Against the Tide
by Chibi Spitfire
Summary: He was supposed to end her life as revenge for all the horrible atrocities her father had committed against those he considered his family. He wasn't supposed to save her life. He wasn't supposed to develop an intense desire to protect her. And he damn sure wasn't supposed to fall for this spoiled brat. MarcoxOC (T for now, may up the rating later)
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

* * *

A young woman with long raven locks ran as fast as her legs would take her, constantly looking over her shoulder before diving off to the side into a cluster of bushes she happened to pass by. Wide brown eyes screwed shut and her fingers clutched tightly to her scalp as she heard the group of men rush by the bushes, cursing as they tried their hardest to find her.

"She can't have gotten far! I saw her go this way!" The voices and footsteps quickly grew fainter and fainter with each passing second.

Damn. Damn it all! She hadn't expected this by accompanying her father on a trip for the Marines. What had she ever done to deserve this?! And as luck would have it, her dear father had rushed off once he saw a familiar group of pirates in the port they were in, leaving her to fend for herself.

Alright, pull it together. She could handle this by herself. She was more than capable of handling a group of trained qualified pirates… Who was she kidding? She was thoroughly and royally fucked if they ever caught her.

Slowly cracking her eyes open slightly, she crawled forward until her head poked out from the bushes, breathing a sigh of relief as the pirates that had previously been chasing after her were nowhere in sight. Now all she had to do was get back to the Marine ship and she was home free! Grinning slightly, she stood to her feet and brushed herself off, turning around as she came face to chest with a large man who was leering down at her.

"Well well, h'llo there…You gave us quite the chase y'know. I'm gonna need you to come with me and don't struggle or it'll be hard for us to go easy on you." He took a step forward and she took a step back, whirling around to try and run again when she found herself staring at dozens of pirates.

And all of them were after her blood. Well fuck.

Feeling a strong grip on her arms, she shrieked and began to flail and kick. "I'll be damned if you think I'd let you lot take me in like this! I'll have your heads! I'll see you all dead! I'll-!" Her tirade was silenced as one of the pirates placed a gag over her mouth, the pirate she had bumped into appearing before her face once again and grinning down into her face.

"I hate we have to do this, really do. You can blame your old man for us having to chase you down an' all. We'll let the commander decide what to do with you from here…"

Their Commander? She paled at the thought of being at the mercy of these bastards and she madly shook her head. No no no no no! This wasn't supposed to be like this! Where was her father when she needed him?! Where was help to save her?! Why did no one give a damn about what was happening?!

Then it hit her, the sudden realization that she was completely and utterly alone and that her father wasn't coming for her. The shock overcame her as her eyes rolled into the back of her head and the world around her went black, her form falling forward and into the waiting arms of her captors.

With a grunt, the pirate scooped the woman into his arms and jerked his head to the side, indicating that they would be returning to their ship then. "Time's a wasting, gotta get back before the Marines get a whiff of what's goin' on here. Someone help me tie her hands and feet first. I have a feelin' she won't be too pleased once she wakes up from her little nap..."

* * *

Marco cursed silently, pacing back and forth as he waited for the last group of men to arrive back to the ship. Where in seven hells were they?! Akainu was hot on their trail and if they waited any longer to get out of there...

"I see them!"

Finally. He released the breath he had been holding, shaking his head as he made his way over to the group of stragglers before turning around and barking the next order. "Get us out of here yoi! Fast as you can!"

The men all cheered that their brothers were finally back, setting the sails and leaving the port as quickly as their ship could take them. Marco felt an eyebrow quirk up as he noticed one of his brothers carrying something that appeared to be covered in a tarp. Whatever it was, each and every single one of them had a proud shit-eating grin on their faces.

"Guess what we were able to bring back?! A souvenir that's sure to show the Marines we mean business!"

Jamming his hands into his pockets, Marco took a step forward and then another until he was standing before the group. "And what exactly do you mean by that yoi? What do you all have there?"

With a bark of a laugh given, the tarp was jerked back and the "souvenir" tumbled to the floor in a heap. Marco's eyes widened as he slowly realized just what his stupid crew mates had done. A young woman whimpered, hands and feet bound with a gag in her mouth as she looked at her surroundings in obvious fear.

"What the fuck have you done yoi?" Instead of being pleased as his brothers had hoped, Marco grit his teeth together and turned on the group. "What the fuck is this?! Why is there some woman on our ship and what does she have to do with the Marines?!"

Narrowing his eyes, he knelt down and gently gripped the girl's hair, tugging her face up to meet his own. Wide brown eyes met black and Marco snarled before letting her fall back onto the deck of the ship. "Answer me yoi! What did you do?!"

The men were taken aback. How could their foolproof plan backfire on them? They were certain that Marco would have been pleased! "But...But she's with Akainu! We heard she's one of his daughters and thought this way we could get back at the Marines for what they did to pops! A life for a life!"

Marco's eyes slowly widened at the implications his brothers were making. No, they couldn't have been that fucking stupid as to kidnap a child of Akainu, hold her hostage and then expect to take her life. Surely they weren't that insane!

A soft whine made him whip his head around, the woman quickly scooting back as much as her bound hands and feet would allow her. Marco growled, running a hand through his hair before turning back to his crew. "_I _will decide what is to be done with her now that you've fucked us over yoi. Not a single one of you will lay a hand to her until I've made my judgment. Is that clear yoi?"

It was deathly silent except for the few low murmurings of a few individuals, the only motion made was the nodding of heads.

"Good, now let me go see if I can undo some of this damage yoi. If that's even possible at this point." Sighing heavily, Marco turned back to the woman, picking her up and tossing her over his shoulder rather gracelessly before heading toward his quarters.

* * *

The door slammed behind them and she was tossed carelessly onto a bed, instantly curling up and scooting as far away from this man as she possibly could.

His eyes narrowed and he reached forward to tug the gag away from her mouth, studying her features before reaching for her hands. Instantly she fought back, jerking her hands away and trying to lunge out of his range.

Marco cursed under his breath, trying to get this she-devil to calm down. Ah but she would have none of that. She bit down on the hand that got too close to her throat and shrieked as the man growled and threw his body across her own, pinning her to the bed.

"Calm the fuck down! Just...calm down yoi. I'm trying to help here but you're not making things any better for either one of us." It was then that Marco noticed tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. She bit on her lower lip before shaking her head quickly, thrashing beneath him as hard as she could. Considering the difference in their sizes, her small frame against his much larger one, it didn't phase Marco whatsoever.

"G-Get off! Get off me right now!"

With a sigh, Marco held his hands up in defense, giving her enough space to wriggle free and dive for the corner of his bed. Her eyes cut to slits, glowering at him as though she would slit his throat if given the chance.

Well just fan-fucking-tastic.

"Miss? If you like I can take those off your hands and feet for you, I'm sure they're starting to hurt by now yoi."

She blinked, staring at the ties on her hands before jerking her head up at him, narrowing her eyes once again. "If you try anything I swear..."

A chuckle came from him as he shook his head, examining her wrists as she offered them to him. "Trust me, you're too plain for my tastes yoi. I prefer exotic looking women myself."

She snorted and rolled her eyes. Typical pirate.

Marco couldn't help but feel an eyebrow lift at the tiny groan of approval once the binds were off her wrists and ankles, watching as she rubbed the circulation back into both sets of appendages. Shaking his head, he stood to his feet and stared at the young woman in his bed. He'd have to try and figure out just what had happened back at the port from his crew but first...

"Marco."

Brown eyes looked up and blinked owlishly at him. "I'm sorry?"

He patted a hand against his tattooed chest before pointing a finger back at her. "I'm Marco. I think I'd like to know your name as well if you're going to be our temporary hostage for the time being."

_That _made her snort and turn her head away, arms crossing in a childish defiant manner. Marco merely shrugged before turning and heading for the door.

"Suit yourself, just stay in here until I figure out just what I'm going to do. I mean it too, don't leave this room for anything. I can't promise my brothers won't try anything considering most of them now know who you're related to."

She froze slightly, fidgeting in place before turning her head and staring at Marco's retreating back. Just as the door opened...

"...Felicity." She managed to mumble out, trying hard not to look away as Marco faced her once again with a lazy smirk on his face.

"Felicity?" It appeared it was mulling over the name for a minute, staring at the raven haired woman some before speaking up again. "It suits you yoi." But before she could ask what exactly he meant by that, he stepped outside and shut the door behind him, a clicking sound letting her know that the door had been locked behind him.

Well...this day had certainly gone to hell in a handbasket, hadn't it?

* * *

**Hi there! This is my very first ever One Piece fanfic that I've attempted to write though I have so many ideas for this particular series stored away in my brain. I saw Marco first when Shanks came aboard the Moby Dick and instantly fell for him. He's just so awesome and definitely one of my favorite characters from the One Piece series. **

**A few things if you're interested in reading my little story...**

**First, my character may come across as a brat but that's because Felicity is somewhat of a spoiled brat. Think Helmeppo but nowhere near as spoiled and bratty. Second, it will take a little bit of time for her to open up to the Whitebeard crew and especially to open up to Marco. She's a very closed off person but what do you expect when your daddy is Akainu and when you've just been abducted for possible retribution for what happened to Whitebeard? Third, Felicity may be a bit of a Mary Sue but come on, what OC or for that matter canon character isn't a bit of a Mary Sue at times? I promise not to make her into too much of a Mary Sue but just a fair warning if she does come across that way at times. **


	2. Chapter 2

**So today is mine and Brook's birthday! In honor of this special day you all get an update! Yohohohoho~! Enjoy!  
**

**A big thank you to Shiningheart of ThunderClan, lucyknight13, and Trich for your lovely reviews! You were a huge part in helping me to update this story faster!  
**

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Chapter 2

Marco's steps felt heavier than they ever had before in his life with each step he took toward his crew mates. What was he supposed to do with the woman currently in his room? They couldn't very well just let her go right away. No, Akainu would be on them in no time at all if they took time to stop at a port too close to where the abduction had occurred.

Hands gripped the insides of his pockets as his feet continued to take him to his brothers, narrowing his eyes as he exhaled a deep breath while facing them, the usual sleepy look he wore on his face now completely gone. "Alright, so what do you all propose we do to the girl that is currently a hostage on our ship? I mean, since it was your _brilliant _idea to force her here against her will and all yoi."

Instantly there was murmurings amongst the crew members before one of the ones who had originally brought Felicity on board spoke out. "We kill her! The Marines always think they can do whatever they want to us, but this way we can show them we're not gonna take their shit anymore!"

A loud thunderous cry of agreement rose from a good majority of the crew while Marco's eyes narrowed to slits. Before Marco could get a word in, the familiar voice of Jozu rang out. "QUIET!"

That certainly seemed to shut the rest of the crew up and Marco turned his head to the larger man, giving a quick nod of thanks before turning his attention back to his brothers. "We aren't going to kill her. You all say, a life for a life yoi, but do you honestly think that's what Pops would want? If he could see what you've done, would he be pleased yoi?"

He noted that a few of the men looked at one another, as though contemplating this thought but another voice rang out. "It's because of Marine bastards like her father that Ace and Pops are gone!" And the cheers of the masses rose up again, demanding her blood.

Marco groaned and buried his face in the palm of one hand. This was going to be a long day…

* * *

Felicity eyed the door before her, brown eyes narrowing before she reached for her hair. Being an older sister had it's advantages at times. Especially when it made her an expert in using bobby pins to unlock doors in order to get into places she was otherwise locked out of. Kneeling before the door, Felicity lodged the bobby pin into the lock mechanism and began to twist the pin about.

Her head tilted slightly to the side as her brow furrowed. Hmm, this door might be a bit tricky... With another twist, she grinned victoriously as she heard the soft click that let her know that the door had been unlocked. The bobby pin went back into her hair and she stood to her feet, brushing her long skirts off. Her hand gently turned the knob and she slowly peered out, breathing a sigh of relief at the empty corridors she was met with.

Perfect! Now all she had to do was carefully sneak away where none of them could find her. Surely there was a den den mushi somewhere on board that she could use.

Though as she continued on her trek down the long hallway, she found herself wondering just why she was so eager to get back to the life she had known before? Her steps slowed slightly, a frown settling across her face. What did she really have to go back home to? Her younger sister had left her behind so she could find a life for herself, and their father hardly tolerated Felicity's presence as it was. Still, it would be a more welcome place to be than on a ship filled with pirates that obviously hated her with a passion.

Wouldn't it?

Before she could expound on these developing thoughts, Felicity found herself freezing in place at the sound of footsteps coming from one direction; she instantly turned and began to walk quickly in the opposite direction. Well damn, it appeared that her escape might not be as easy as she had first hoped. Her steps carried her quickly through the corridors, and seemingly there was no one around. It almost seemed odd, considering just how many men there were on the ship...

She shook her head, forcing those thoughts out of her mind and focusing again on the task at hand. Where would they store a den den mushi on this ship? As she turned a corner, she froze seeing she was now face to face with more damn pirates.

Why did this happen to her constantly?! Who had she pissed off for this to happen?

"Lookee here," Felicity froze and looked over her shoulder to find herself once again surrounded.

She stamped a foot to the ground at her rotten luck, cursing as she did so. "Son of a bitch!" Her eyes shifted from one side to the other before she made a mad dash for a long hall where there seemed to be no men in sight. When in doubt, flee for safety.

And flee she did. Well as fast as she could in the given circumstances. Yet once again fate seemed to be a bitch that had it out for her.

* * *

"She's an innocent bystander in all of this! We can't allow you all to kill her because you want retribution!"

Marco knew his fellow commanders felt the same way as he did, listened to them as they each made a plea to spare her life. How long had Marco heard the other commanders say things he had so earnestly tried to get their crew mates to listen to? Damn, he'd lost track of time. Shaking his head, he stood to his feet before stopping his movements at the sound of a familiar shriek.

"Oh hell," Marco groaned, running a hand through his hair in frustration. Just fucking great...

"PUT ME DOWN! I swear to whatever gods are listening, when I get the chance you are all dead!" Groaning, Marco turned around to find that several of his brothers were now carrying Felicity above their heads as she thrashed and kicked about.

"We caught her trying to escape!" They tossed her onto the hard floor of the ship's deck, another indignant cry given from the young woman in question as her body made impact with the wood. She managed to give a cat-like shriek which made made Marco wince at the sound.

"You sons of bitches!" Felicity jumped to her feet, brown eyes blazing as she tugged her hair out of her eyes. "I'm going to kill you all myself!" All the fear she had felt earlier was gone, now replaced by feelings of complete and utter rage and indignation. How dare they manhandle her like this!

She lunged forward only to be stopped by a pair of arms wrapping themselves around her waist, stopping her movements effectively. Her head whipped back to see the familiar face of Marco and she snarled, struggling as hard as she could. "Let me go! Damn you all!"

Her arms began to flail, trying her hardest to smack at Marco in order to make him release her. He hissed and tightened one arm around her waist as his now free hand moved to grip both her wrists in a death vice. "That's enough!"

Oh but she wasn't having it. "Let. Me. Go." Her voice was low, holding a deathly tone to it as she continued to struggle against Marco.

"Marco, if you won't let us end her life... Then give her to us."

The blood in Marco's veins went cold at the implications his brothers made, realization creeping through him at just what they meant. His hands tightened around the woman he held in his arms, shaking his head once.

"No, I can't do that yoi," Marco shifted his feet slightly, taking a step backwards with Felicity in tow. "You're all not thinking clearly; let's just take some time to calm the fuck down and think about what we're saying." His grip slackened just slightly but it was enough to give Felicity the advantage, jerking herself out of Marco's grasp and stumbling flat onto her face.

As she groaned and sat herself up on her knees, she froze. The looks on the faces of the pirates before her were anything but friendly, filled with something she didn't recognize but every warning bell went off in her head and she scrambled to scoot away from them as quickly as she could. A hand reached out and grabbed her leg, dragging her along hard wood while Felicity's fingers frantically clawed at the floor before her.

A type of fear she'd never experienced before coursed through her as her legs began to kick as hard as they could in an effort to free herself, but to no avail. Tears threatened to well in her eyes, all the while trying to find something to cling onto so as not to be pulled deeper into the group.

Her head whipped around, as if trying to find someone to help her; finally her eyes met Marco's and she bit her lower lip so as not to let the sob that threatened to escape out. Her eyes silently pleaded, no begged, for him to help her but her heart squeezed tightly in her chest as he turned away from her.

He wasn't going to help, and this realization made her fight once again, kicking and flailing once again as hard as she could. "No!" She shrieked out, fingers bruised and battered from clawing at the wood deck.

"Marco! Are you just going to let this happen?" The voice of Izo hissed into his ear, making Marco narrow his eyes as he snapped his head to the side, forcing himself to tear his gaze away from hers.

It was wrong to allow this to happen to her, every fiber of his being fought against the fact that he wasn't lifting a finger to help her. Yet when he stared at her, he saw Ace's face staring right back at him, that look of helplessness that had been on his face. His comrade who would never come back and who had been another of Whitebeard's sons. Ace was gone and it was all because of that woman's father.

Yet if they were willing to attack a woman, just for who her father was, did that not make them the exact same as Akainu whose twisted sense of "absolute justice" made him desire nothing more than to end the lives of innocents just for their bloodlines?

As he forced himself to look toward Felicity again, Marco grit his teeth at seeing tears run down her cheeks, the look on her face a mixture of fear and an unwavering determination to not give up.

His feet moved of their own accord into the midst of the crew and before he even knew what he was doing, his arms had reached down and scooped Felicity up, cradling her close against his chest. One arm wound tightly around her shoulders and the other under her legs while he calmly walked out of the fray.

Turning to face his crew, Marco spoke, his voice unwavering. "None of you are to lay a hand on Felicity again yoi," He could see the agitation and frustration on the faces of the masses before him and his rang out again. "Because I now claim this woman for myself." And with that proclamation there was instant silence, not a sound coming from a single member on board.

A single solitary voice finally called out. "Are you sure about tha-"

"Yes." The finality in his clipped tone made it clear that they were not about to discuss it further.

Marco released a heavy sigh before turning his attention to the squirming woman in his arms. His arms didn't loosen whatsoever, but Felicity somehow managed to pry her face out of Marco's chest before turning her gaze up at him; her features scrunched up into questions of 'why' and 'what just happened'.

Without saying another word, Marco turned and headed back to his room. Felicity took the time to look over Marco's shoulder, eyes widening slightly as she saw the men all staring at Marco with something akin to fear in their eyes. Only one thought passed through her mind upon seeing this.

Just what the hell had Marco done by saying what he had said?

* * *

The moment Marco passed the threshold into his room, he stopped and gingerly placed Felicity to her feet. One hand gently grasping a shoulder while his other gently ran a thumb along her cheek, feeling that the tears she had shed earlier had dried upon her skin. His eyes roved across her face, checking to see if she had suffered any injuries during her escape attempt.

"What... Why did they react like that when you said that you claimed me?"

Marco's hand stopped its movements and he pulled both hands away from Felicity upon seeing her eyes looking up at him with a questioning curious look. Sighing, he shook his head and jammed his hands into pockets before stepping away from her, trying to figure out just how to explain how things worked with their crew.

"There's a rule among us that's been in effect for years now yoi. In order to keep crew members from fighting over any women that may be brought on board, if a member of the crew claims a woman for himself and if she accepts and reciprocates the claim, that means she's off limits to all others on the ship. No ifs, ands, or buts about it yoi." A brow quirked up as he watched the look on Felicity's face as she slowly began to realize what Marco meant.

"Y-You mean," She paused, taking a few cautious steps back until the backs of her legs hit the side of Marco's bed. Upon seeing what she had bumped into, she whirled back around to face Marco, her face a bright red. "I refuse!" She barked out, bracing herself for anything that might happen next. "I won't accept this! You can't make-!"

Before she knew what had happened, she found herself pinned to the bed with Marco hovering over her. She grit her teeth and began to thrash beneath him, yet the grip he had on her wrists wasn't budging him at all from his spot above her. He leaned down, a dark chuckle escaping as he shook his head.

"You don't realize the shit storm you're in right now, do you?" Brown eyes met his own and Marco continued. "If I hadn't stepped in when I did, there's no telling what those men out there who want revenge for our fallen brother would have done to you yoi. Trust me, I won't be laying a hand on you in that manner because as I told you before, I don't particularly find spoiled plain women attractive."

Marco released Felicity's hands and moved off the bed; his eyes watched the woman as she stared up at him with nothing but pure unadulterated hatred. "You'll be staying with me in my quarters until we can figure out a way to get you off this ship yoi. You're stuck here for the time being and I'm no happier about it than you are yoi. Just try not to piss anyone off and don't get yourself killed in the meantime." Marco shrugged and turned to begin walking toward the door.

"Wait!" Marco turned back, watching the raven haired woman on his bed fidget and look down at her hands in her lap. "Where... am I supposed to sleep?"

The corners of his lips slowly curved up and he pointed to the bed Felicity was still sitting on. "There's only one bed yoi. You can either share with me or you can choose the floor. Fair warning though, I won't be tempted to do anything inappropriate to you but I do tend to cuddle during the nights yoi."

Felicity's eyes widened to saucers, shocked into silence and the look of pure horror she had on her face made Marco release a loud laugh.

Her mind was made up in that instance. "I'd rather sleep on the floor than in the same bed with the likes of you!" Yet peering over the bed, she stared down at the floor which looked to offer no comfort whatsoever; she had to admit to herself that sleeping on that hard wood floor would be hell.

She knew she was more than likely jinxing herself but... "Can things get any worse?" She murmured lowly with a shudder.

* * *

**I'm so happy that this fic is already getting a little bit of attention on here. Any attention at all is great so thank you all so much that have decided to check my fic out. Also a huge thank you to those who have favorited/followed it. That means the world to me and makes me so excited when I see those kinds of notifications in my email! Feel free to review as I always respond to any reviews, good or bad.  
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	3. Chapter 3

**So I commissioned an awesome artist on deviantart to draw a picture of Felicity and the picture is absolutely beautiful! If any of you want to take a look at what Felicity looks like (and I do think the picture looks very much how I pictured her in my head), the link to the picture is on my profile here. :D**

******A big thank you to Trich, aqua-empress, Miss Fuhrer, and lucyknight13 for your lovely reviews! Also thank you to everyone who has favorited/followed this story as well! **

**I feel as though this chapter isn't as good as the other two, probably because I've had an emotional week. So to make up for it I give Marco cuddles to everyone! :D **

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Chapter 3

"I hope I don't offend, but you positively look like shit today. I take it our Marco kept you up all night and didn't let you get any sleep?"

Felicity snapped her head around, untamed black curls whipping in her face as she did so. She managed to give the deadliest of death glares at the make up-wearing male sitting in front of her at the table. That only served to make the man burst out into a hearty laugh and shake his head, holding his hands up in defense.

"Ha ha, you're so damn hilarious," She mumbled, poking at the food on her plate in an attempt to turn her attention away from the man, who had earlier introduced himself as Izo. Though in a manner of speaking, she _was_ placing the blame for her lack of sleep squarely on Marco since her only choices for places to sleep were either his bed with him or on the floor.

And her earlier judgment of the floor not being comfortable whatsoever had been wholly correct.

She supposed she shouldn't snap at Izo, after all he had tried to be somewhat kind to her and even managed to find some clothing on board that actually fit her. And it felt really nice to be out of her old things. Looking down at herself, she took in the black capris she now wore along with the black and white striped tank top. They were both snug fits, but anything was better than wearing those damn long skirts she had been forced to wear before her kidnapping.

Sighing, she pushed her plate away from her, her attention now turning to the wooden table she sat at. The rest of the crew on the ship sat at surrounding tables all around, eating, drinking, being merry and all that jazz. Lovely how they could go on acting as though nothing had happened.

"You know, the Commander won't be happy if he hears you're starving yourself," Felicity lifted her head again to once again look at the kimono-wearing male. "Just saying, since you're his now."

Something inside her snapped upon hearing those words, pure rage boiling over and every frustration she had felt ever since boarding this ship came out all at once. All she could hear was those damn words, _you're his._

Felicity slammed her palms against the table, standing to her feet as she turned her attention to the plate of unfinished food. Slowly her fingers curled into fists and she reached for the plate, throwing it onto the floor. "You can tell your precious _Commander_, that I said he can go fuck himself if he has a problem with it! I don't care if he's claimed me or not, I'll bloody well starve myself to death if I want to and there's not a damn thing he can do about it!"

Slowly, Felicity realized that the room had gone entirely silent and she turned, freezing as she saw hundreds of pairs of eyes on her. Well damn... She hadn't meant to make an ass of herself. Especially not in front of these pirates, and not in front of Izo who had actually been somewhat nice to her.

Shaking her head with her cheeks burning, she swiftly ran straight for the exit in an attempt to escape from the awkward stares and whispers. Who cared what they thought? Fuck them! Fuck what they thought about her and her outburst! And fuck Marco for putting her in this position in the first place!

* * *

"Fleet Admiral, sir!" A young Marine officer stood directly behind the imposing figure, saluting as was protocol when addressing the someone of the utmost high rank.

Fleet Admiral Sakazuki, best known by his code name of Akainu, didn't even bother turning around from where he stood on the Marine ship.

"Report," His tone was gruff, clipped and no-nonsense, just as he always was. "You'd better have something important for you to come to me like this."

"S-Sir! We've just received word on the possible whereabouts of your daughter, sir!"

That made Akainu pause, yet he still refused to turn around and acknowledge the officer behind him. "And which daughter would this be? I have two, so be more specific!" He barked this out, arms moving to cross in front of him so no one would notice the slightest clench of his hands at the mention of his worthless children.

"Ah, your older daughter, sir! It appears that the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates took her on the day we-"

"That'll be all. Go back to your post."

The flippant and cold tone made the officer blink in slight disbelief as he was cut off. Shouldn't the Fleet Admiral be concerned about the welfare of his daughter? Especially if she was with the Whitebeards?

"What the hell are you still doing here? I told you to get back to your damn post, officer!"

That made the young officer snap back to attention, saluting his superior once again. "Y-Yes, but sir shouldn't we begin an immediate course of action to rescue her?"

Akainu slowly turned, the look on his face showing annoyance more than any concern for his daughter. "I already knew she was taken by pirates and if my daughter was weak enough to allow herself to be captured by pirates then she deserves whatever fate they bestow upon her. I have far more pressing matters to attend than that of one of my useless daughters."

The shock at hearing those words made the young man take a step back, nervously nodding his head as he readied himself to run back to his previous post. "S-Sir! I'll be on my way then!" A final salute was given and the man turned and fled, leaving Akainu to his own thoughts.

The Fleet Admiral turned, staring out as he had been before he had been interrupted by the useless information that his elder daughter's captors had been identified. There had been a time he had had such hopes for both his daughters when they had been young, that they too would carry the same sense of "absolute justice" that he proudly upheld, but those hopes were dashed as they had grown over the years.

He had far bigger things to worry about than his wayward offspring. If Felicity couldn't find a way to escape on her own, if she lived or died as a result of her own carelessness, then why should he care?

That was simply the way things had always worked in his world. Order always prevailed and if not, then those who caused the disorder would suffer the consequences for it.

* * *

The sound of grumbling and stomping made Marco quirk a brow and lean over where he sat in the crow's nest, just so he could see what was going on down below.

Ah, and there running along was the current bane of his existence: one petite, bratty woman who only seemed capable of complaining about every single possible thing around her. Oh yes, Izo had told him _all_ about the earlier food fiasco, and Marco was not pleased or amused with how she had reacted. Not one damn bit.

And therein lay the question of the day. To go after her, or not go after her? Hearing a string of curses come from below, Marco was definitely learning toward not going after her and letting her wear herself out with her little temper tantrum.

A few seconds later though, against his better judgment, he gave a sigh and proceeded to jump over the side of the crow's nest and landed on his feet on the deck. He lazily began to walk after Felicity, hands in his pockets as his eyes scanned the area for any sign of her.

Now, Marco was very understanding of how she must be feeling given the circumstances of her being on their ship. Yet he had given her protection from the other crew members, had promised he himself wouldn't lay a hand on her, _and_ she had even been given food and other necessities so she didn't suffer during her stay with the Whitebeards. Was it asking too much for a little bit of gratitude?

Marco didn't think so and he was going to tell her exactly what he thought of it all.

And speak of the devil. He saw her back turned to him, her hands gripping the side railing on the ship as she seemingly stared out at the ocean. His steps quietly brought him right behind her, reaching a hand out and grasping her shoulder tightly before turning her around to face him.

Felicity stiffened and tried to tug her shoulder free before being forcibly turned and seeing just who had a grasp on her. Brown eyes narrowed and she jerked herself free from Marco's grasp. "Oh, it's you. To what do I owe this unexpected _pleasure_?"

Marco rolled his eyes, ignoring the sarcastic tone her voice held as she crossed her arms and tried to stare him down. "Izo told me about what happened earlier yoi. I didn't think it was possible to think any less of you, but you sure proved me wrong." He watched her reaction carefully, noting the way she nibbled on her lower lip and looked to the side.

For some unknown reason, it stung to hear him say that, yet she'd die before ever telling the pirate so. "So? My own father can't stand me, why should I give a damn what a group of pirates think of me?" She shifted from one foot to the other, lips coiling to a slow frown.

The half-sleepy look on his face turned slowly to a look of disbelief.

He hadn't expected her to try and make such a claim, and he didn't believe a word of what came out of her mouth. He eyed her skeptically before slowly giving his head a shake. "If you're trying to make me believe that your father doesn't care and won't be coming after us, it won't work yoi."

A low bitter laugh came from the woman as she planted her hands to her hips and gave the first division commander a slow smirk. "Oh yeah? Well let me tell you something. You may act like you know it all," She took a step forward, grin still in place before tilting her head up so she could stare up at the taller man. "But in the end, you know absolutely _nothing, _Marco." Her last words came out as a hiss as she managed to shove him aside using all her strength, then walking past him in a hurry.

Felicity didn't get very far before she felt a strong grip on both her arms that quickly shoved her back into the nearest wall. She cried out from the pain of impact and froze as she looked up into Marco's face. Gone was the usual lazy smile and laid back attitude she had grown accustomed to over the past few days. Now in its place was a pair of narrowed eyes and a frown that seemed to grow deeper with each passing second.

His face leaned in closer to her own before he began to speak in a low tone. "I know _nothing_, Miss Felicity? Do tell then, what exactly I know nothing about yoi."

Even though he was currently holding her arms hostage, Felicity managed to give a soft snort, her mouth opening to retort when the boat hit a patch of particularly rough waves, sending both bodies crashing onto the hard wooden deck. Marco's arms instinctively moved to wrap around Felicity, cradling her protectively.

"Hang on!" He barked out as they both tumbled about, rolling over and over on the deck.

Felicity could do nothing other than wrap her arms tightly around Marco's abdomen, holding onto him as tightly as she possibly could. The ship trembled and bounced violently against the waves and Felicity's grip didn't lessen any. It wasn't until a few moments later that she realized just what she was doing and with whom she was doing it with.

Shit.

Instantly she began to try and shove Marco off her but to no avail; he was far more powerful than she was and he wasn't budging any. No matter how she kicked and thrashed beneath him, Felicity couldn't shove him off of her.

This couldn't be happening! Please, let it all be some horrible nightmare... Yet feeling the firm pressure of his hips against her own as well as his arms wrapped tightly around her form, let her know that this indeed was reality. Felicity felt her entire face flush from a mixture of shock and embarrassment and could do nothing other than lay still in the pirate's arms until the ship stopped rocking as it was.

Marco silently cursed as he cradled the woman in his arms, trying to shield her from any possible trauma while at the same time she tried to get him to release her. Damn it, didn't she realize that if he let her go there was no way she'd be able to not come out of this uninjured? Stupid woman!

And damn these waves! Yes, he knew very well that when one lived a life on the sea, one had to always be prepared for the unexpected, and this certainly was one of those instances. His keen hearing picked up on his crew mates yelling at one another, barking orders out and running back and forth in an attempt to gain back some control over their ship.

Once the waves calmed and the ship ceased its movements, Marco's head tilted down in order to ask if Felicity had been injured. Yet as he did so, he curiously felt himself unable to ask his question to the woman under him. He found he couldn't even open his mouth and say a damn word.

Staring down at Felicity, he saw wild, black curls tousled around her head while a bright blush tinged her entire face. Wide, doe eyes stared up into his own and for the briefest of moments nothing was said between the two. No curses, no anger or sarcastic remarks, just sweet silence.

Before he could stop himself, his hand reached up and fingers gently caressed her cheek. In that moment, she looked so vulnerable and unsure of herself. A side he had yet to see from the woman, the shyness suited her he decided.

Felicity could only watch in silence as Marco stared at her in return and when she felt his hand on her cheek, she gasped. Not from the audacity that the pirate had to even consider touching her, but for the reaction she had from his gentle touch...

She hadn't expected to feel something from that one caress, but she did. What that was exactly, she wasn't even sure...

A sharp intake from Felicity at the contact brought Marco back to reality; it also dawned on him that her legs were wrapped about his waist while his pelvis was pressed intimately against her own.

He felt his body slowly begin to react at being so close to the woman, causing Marco to yank his hand back from her cheek as though her flesh had burned him. Quickly, he stood and brought Felicity to her feet as well before releasing the still blushing woman, who now refused to look him in the eye and chose instead to turn her gaze to the floor beneath her feet.

Oh, but their earlier conversation wasn't done, and he wasn't about to let the primal reactions his body made stop him from letting her hear what he had to say. His hand moved forward, a finger gently lifting her chin up so that her eyes were forced to meet his again.

"You said that I knew nothing. Believe me when I tell you that I've lived far longer than you have and have seen more hell and hurt on this earth than you could ever possibly know about yoi." Marco released her arms, taking a step back to look the petite woman over before opening his mouth to speak again. "_You_, Felicity, are the one who knows nothing."

With that Marco turned his back and left the blushing woman, trying his hardest to gain control over himself again.

Fucking hell, there was no excuse for his body to turn traitor on him because of _her._ But then again, he conceded that maybe it _had_ been too long since he had last been able to find carnal pleasure for himself. Yeah, that was why he had acted like a damn fool. Perhaps it was time for him to take care of this problem on the next island they made a stop at...

A pair of wide brown eyes watched Marco's retreating back, shaking hands moving to cover her still red cheeks as she tried to decipher what had just happened between herself and the first division commander.

Why had she reacted in that manner? She absolutely hated him! So why... The only thing that she could make out in the jumbled thoughts of her mind, was that even though she had been with the crew only a few days, the longer she stayed on this ship, the longer she stayed around that man, things could only get worse.

The fact she had felt something in that one moment terrified her more than any other thing in her life ever had.

* * *

******Hmm what's this? Are things starting to happen now? Maybe and maybe not! *laughs evilly* I mentioned that Felicity had a younger sister for a split second in the previous chapter and there will be more mentions of her sister to come, but I don't think she'll make an actual appearance in this particular story. Also, this will be one of the very few times we see Akainu in this fic (thankfully)! **

******Writing him out just made me hate him even more! Especially with how he treats his poor daughters, and just how horribly he treated them will be seen in future chapters and will probably make you guys hate him even more than you already might. *jabs him with a pointy stick* Mwahahaha! Fear my stick of evil!  
**

**As always feel free to review because good or bad I always respond to reviews! **


	4. Chapter 4

******A big thank you to lucyknight13, Shiningheart of ThunderClan, and Miss Fuhrer for your lovely reviews on the previous chapter! Also thank you to all the other ducklings who have favorited/followed this story as well! Yes, henceforth you are all now deemed my ducklings!  
**

******I'm hoping to be able to continue doing weekly updates for this story, hopefully around Thursdays or Fridays so look for weekly chapters around those days.  
**

**Marco cuddles for everyone because let's face it, we'd all love to get some cuddles from our favorite smexy Phoenix! :D **

* * *

Chapter 4

A week had passed since the "incident", as Felicity now referred to it. Since that time, she had made it a point to not be alone with Marco in any form other than the nights that she had to sleep on his floor. She couldn't even look the man in the eye! By the gods, she hated him even more for making her feel the foreign things she had felt that day!

As she once again felt her mind wander toward what had happened, her hands instantly moved to clutch at her skull while a moan escaped and her head collided with the table she was sitting at. No! Bad Felicity! No having thoughts about what happened before!

"So, you've moved from trying to starve yourself to death to now trying to give yourself permanent brain damage. That's definitely a step up I'd say."

Felicity lifted her head to find herself face to face with Izo, who was currently giving her a knowing smirk, and managed to give the man a weak smile. "Hi, Izo..." She had to admit, Izo_ was_ one of the few men on the ship who had shown her any kind of decency in the weeks since her abduction and also one of the very few on board the ship whose presence she could tolerate.

"Now what's got our little duckling in such a tizzy today, hmm?" Izo propped his chin up on the palm of one hand while he looked Felicity over. She in turn gave a little sigh before shaking her head.

"It's nothing," She was quick to try and smoothly lie her way through what was really on her mind. Felicity may have liked Izo, but there was no way in hell she was ready to tell him what had happened between she and the first division commander just yet. "Just my mind going wild I suppose. I feel like I'm going crazy being stuck here like I have been the past few weeks... Any chance we'll be stopping at an island in the near future?"

Izo's smirk never left his face, as if he knew that she was lying through her teeth. But it was still better not to let him know that any suspicions he might have were correct at this point. Felicity mimicked Izo's movements, also propping her chin on both her palms as she looked at the man sitting in front of her with wide doe eyes, trying to appear as innocent as possible.

"Well, last I heard Marco had mentioned something a couple days ago to the other commanders about possibly making a stop at the next island we come across. Maybe it won't be too much longer and then your mind won't be going as _wild_ as you say it is right now."

"Finally," She breathed out in relief at hearing the potentially good news.

"Finally what, exactly yoi?"

Felicity felt a shudder run through her spine at the all too familiar voice of Marco, yet she refused to turn around and face him. "Izo tells me that you mentioned something about stopping at the next island. I was thinking it would be nice to get off the boat for awhile and stock up on some necessities for myself."

Marco chuckled before taking a seat next to Felicity, noting the way she seemed to tense at his close proximity. "I think most of the men could use a break, we've been on the seas for the past few weeks now and it'll give us all a chance to get anything we might need before we head out again."

Izo's eyebrow arched slightly as he looked from Marco to Felicity and then back again at his brother. His lips slowly curved up into a smirk and he waved a hand flippantly before speaking up again. "I was thinking it might be beneficial for us to break up into small groups this time around. In fact..." His smirk grew wider as he turned his undivided attention toward Felicity. "I was _hoping_ I could take Felicity off your hands and bring her with me in order to help her get whatever things she might need."

Brown eyes blinked at Izo's offer and Felicity found herself slowly nodding in agreement while Marco eyed the cross-dressing man skeptically.

He snorted. "And why would you want to do that yoi? She is _mine_ after all, I could just as easily bring her with me and drag her along to wherever I choose to go."

Marco of course had no intention of doing such a thing and was eager to get away from the problematic woman, but the way Felicity whipped her head around and glared daggers at him was priceless.

"I _want_ to go with _Izo_ instead. Besides, I seriously doubt you'd miss me and this way I can be around someone who doesn't completely loathe my presence and remind me of that each and every waking moment of the day."

His fingers began to drum lightly against the table as he considered this. "Ah, you bring up a valid point yoi. It might be better if you were to be with someone who isn't one step away from throwing you overboard." He gave a slight shrug before moving to stand from the table. "Suit yourself, just don't come crying to me if she drives you up the wall now yoi. She's _your_ problem for the day once we get to land." With that, he turned to walk away from the pair still sitting.

Felicity grumbled under her breath before whirling around and sticking her tongue out at Marco's retreating back. Izo laughed at the girl's audacity, deciding that he indeed was going to like this girl.

Especially considering the way their Phoenix acted around her, and every single one of the other commanders had certainly noticed a change in the man over the past weeks that the petite, raven-haired woman had been on board. The usually calm and laid-back first division commander now easily became quick to anger, snapping at Felicity if she said one wrong thing to him or acted any certain way toward the other members on board the ship. No one had ever gotten under Marco's skin like that, and it worried and interested all the men at the same time.

The pair were like gasoline and fire anytime they were around one another. An explosive combination that resulted in barbs and insults being thrown back and forth, until a week ago that is. Izo had noticed that for the past week, Felicity had avoided all contact with Marco if it could have been helped; and like any good-hearted individual would, he intended to snoop and pry until he got the answers he wanted out of her.

And he intended on finding out every single detail of just what had happened the previous week.

A slow smile made its way across his face as Izo reached a hand forward to gently tug at one of Felicity's wild curls. "So duckling, shall we discuss what you're going to need once we get on land?"

* * *

The men cheered and whooped for joy once the ship had docked and even Marco had to admit to himself that it felt good to be off the ship. They all broke off into groups of a few and went their separate ways, most heading straight to the bars for beer and to find women.

Marco intended on doing just that as well after he gathered some information about the next territory the crew had planned on moving toward. He turned his head toward the groups that were slowly heading toward the town, noticing that Izo had firmly grasped Felicity's wrist in his hand as he dragged the woman behind him, prattling on about something he couldn't quite make out.

What his eyes were drawn toward was the soft smile and little laugh she gave in response to something Izo said to her, the first time he had ever seen her do either during her stay with the crew.

So, it appeared the spoiled brat had a soul somewhere inside after all...

"You know, for someone who acts as though he completely dislikes her, you sure seem to be unable to stop staring at that woman."

That quickly pulled Marco out of his thoughts as he turned his head and found Jozu standing right by his side, also staring after Felicity and Izo. "Just making sure Felicity doesn't try to run off yoi. It wouldn't help us any if she managed to run away and tell the Marines what happened."

Jozu snorted. "And you're certain that's all it is?"

That made Marco freeze in place, narrowing his eyes as he faced the larger man. "What exactly is that supposed to mean yoi? Of course that's all it is, there's nothing else to it." Gritting his teeth in annoyance, Marco moved to begin walking off, but not before he turned to face Jozu a final time. "She's nothing more than the brat that we're now stuck with yoi. Or should I say, that _I'm_ stuck with until we figure out what to do with her. I don't have time for this yoi, I'll see you all at the bar in town when I'm done."

Shaking his head, he muttered under his breath, leaving a chuckling Jozu behind. Izo might have been onto something when he had suggested something potential between their brother and the woman that had been brought aboard their ship. Nothing was able to set Marco off like the mere mention or sight of that woman, even if he refused to admit it to himself.

The real challenge would be getting Marco to acknowledge that Felicity had indeed gotten to him like no one else ever had.

* * *

Izo sighed in disgust at Felicity's clothing choices. "Felicity, please tell me this is not all you plan on getting."

The raven-haired woman frowned and looked down at the pile of clothes in her arms before her head snapped back up, giving Izo an offended look. "What's wrong with what I've picked out?"

He sighed, grabbing one of the many tank tops from Felicity's pile. "For starters, you can't just wear capris and shirts all the time. Where are your winter clothes? We do travel north several times each year after all."

Damn, she hadn't thought of that. "Well maybe I could grab some longer pants and a coat or two," Looking around the store they were in, she could see the opposite side indeed had shelves with nothing but winter apparel. "See? There's winter stuff right there, I can go pick out some things and..."

A hand grabbed her elbow and she slowly turned, only to come face to face with a little sundress that Izo held out for her.

After looking the frock over, her response was instantaneous. "No."

"Try it on! What could it hurt?" A frown slowly made its way across the cross-dresser's face at the glare Felicity was giving him. "Try it on, or I swear I will _make_ you put this on." And he damn well meant it too.

"Fuck that! I'm not putting it on!" She grit her teeth, hands clutching at the mountain of clothes she was still holding onto.

The pair glared at one another, knowing that in the end only the stronger would come out victorious.

And, well...

"I hate you," Felicity mumbled as she looked herself over in the full-length mirror inside the changing room. She supposed it shouldn't have been a surprise that Izo had eventually won out and had forced her to try the damn thing on.

Said man grinned approvingly, nodding his head as he grabbed Felicity's shoulders gently and spun her around. "No you don't, not when you look as good as you do right now. I knew I was right when I thought blue would look great on you."

As much as she hated to admit it, she _did_ like the light blue color and the dress _was_ flattering to her petite figure... But still, she was in no way a dress-wearing woman. She knew very well that she wasn't pretty enough for cute things like this. Hands planted to her hips as her eyes cut at Izo. "Well you had your fun, now give me my regular clothes so I can change back." The look Izo gave her immediately made her stop in place and take a slow step back.

Oh shit, why was he looking at her like he was planning on doing something dark and horrible to her?

A low chuckle emanated from him as he moved closer to Felicity, gently grasping her chin with his fingers before turning her face from side to side as though he were inspecting her. "Oh duckling, who said anything about you changing back into your drab old things? You see, we're going to have some fun with hair and make-up next... Now tell me, have you ever in your sheltered life been to a bar?"

* * *

**Yay! We get to see some bar fun with the Whitebeards in the next chapter! That should be interesting... *evil laughter***

**Even though we don't know much about hardly any of the Whitebeard commanders, I personally think Izo would totally be a sassy fun friend! Think about it, he's obviously strong enough to be one of the commanders of the Whitebeard pirates AND he knows how to apply make up and looks great in a kimono! **

**... *slowly realizes that a man from the One Piece world looks prettier than I do with make up on...proceeds to go to my emo corner and grow mushrooms*  
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***laughs* Kidding! Anyway, I would definitely want Izo to be my friend anytime and wish he would give me a makeover! Anyone else feel the same way?  
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**As always feel free to review because good or bad I always respond to reviews! **


	5. Chapter 5

******A big thank you to my lovely ducklings Shiningheart of ThunderClan, Miss Fuhrer, lucyknight13, and Trich for your lovely reviews on the previous chapter! Also thank you to all the other ducklings who have favorited/followed this story as well!**

**Shiningheart of ThunderClan, you mentioned wishing something particular would happen in this chapter. Well, I really hope you enjoy dear~!  
**

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Chapter 5

Felicity fidgeted in place as she and Izo stood in the darkness of night directly outside the bar where the other members of the Whitebeards currently were, the loud voices and laughter booming from inside the building. "Are you sure about this? I feel ridiculous..." She mumbled under her breath, fingers picking at the blue fabric of the dress she was wearing.

"You might _feel_ ridiculous but you _look_ amazing! You're welcome by the way." Izo snorted, as if perturbed that the woman wasn't more grateful for his help.

And helped her he had. He always took pride in any work he put forth, but this brought an even greater sense of pride to his ego. He had managed to take the most uncultured and snobbish of women, and had turned her into a lovely, blushing young woman who would definitely turn heads no matter where she went. Of course the ultimate test to prove himself right was just beyond the doors of the bar where both he and Felicity now stood.

"I just don't know," The raven-haired woman frowned as she stared up at the imposing doors, perfectly terrified of going in after allowing Izo to dress her up as though she were his doll. Although, she had to give it to the male, never in her life had she ever felt even remotely attractive, but right then she felt almost...semi-pretty.

Almost.

Izo shrugged. "Well, if you really don't want to go in I suppose we could always go back to the ship..." He shrugged, his face devoid of all emotion as Felicity whipped her head around and gave a relieved smile.

She gave a tiny sigh and turned to begin walking away from the bar, unaware that the cross-dresser had silently opened the door to the bar while she had her back turned. "Well, good. It's already night and I would like to get to the boat as soon as possible. Honestly, I would have felt so awkward walking inside where everyone is while I look like- HEY!" Before she could finish her statement, Izo had reached out, grabbing her by both arms and tossed her into the bar.

"Oops! My hands slipped!" He snickered before slinking inside the bar as well, shutting the door firmly behind him.

Felicity had tumbled to the floor, scrambling to get back onto her feet before she whirled around and stood on her tiptoes to get right in Izo's face. "What the hell was that?! Was there any need for tossing me in here like it's no big fucking deal?! I swear, I..." She paused, slowly realizing that the earlier sounds from the members of the crew, were now curiously replaced by silence.

Something told her not to turn around, to just walk right out the door, but did she listen to sound reason? Of course not. Ignoring Izo for the time, Felicity cautiously turned her head to find the entirety of the crew now staring openly at her, some gaping with mouths hung open and eyes as wide as possible.

Shit.

She swallowed, feeling her entire face quickly turn red before she slowly brought a hand up to nervously wave at the group in front of her. "H-Hey guys... Umm, h-how's it going?" Brilliant, now she felt even more ridiculous. It would be best to just leave as quickly as possible, get this get-up off and...

"Felicity! You should come sit with us!" Several of the men all jumped up at once, as if making room for Felicity to have a seat if she so wished.

Wait...

"No! Come sit over here!" She felt a hand grasp at her elbow, her head tilting to take a look at the man who now held her arm in his grasp, motioning toward a table behind him.

What...

The petite woman turned back to Izo who now sported a shit-eating grin as he watched the scene before him. "Yes duckling, why don't you go have a seat? I'm sure you could use the break after all the _fun_ we've had today."

Her teeth ground together as she tried her hardest not to strike out at Izo. Felicity's eyes narrowed to slits from pure anger, but before she could say a word to the cross-dresser, she felt herself being tugged toward the side.

"Ah you should sit with us, Felicity!" Another hand grabbed onto her other arm, tugging her toward the opposite side of the bar.

Yeah, this was getting stranger with each passing second... Her lips slowly coiled to a frown as she tried to gently pry her arms free. "Umm..."

"Oh yeah? Well, maybe she would rather sit with a group of real men for a change," Felicity felt a brow quirk up at that statement only to hear a retort coming from the other side.

"And why would a woman like that want to be seen with your ugly mug?"

Felicity lifted both her hands in an attempt to gain control of the quickly escalating situation. "Okay, listen..."

"Better than a classy girl like her being stuck sitting with a shit for brains like you!"

Okay, since when had any of these men considered her a classy girl?

Her eye started to twitch, arms crossing in front of her as she watched everything unfold before her eyes. "Guys?" Alright, what the hell was happening? These men had _never_ acted like this around her before!

Suddenly a chair flew by her head and she squeaked, diving behind Izo for protection before hissing up at the man. "Izo, what the fuck did you do?! These men have lost their damn minds!" Peeking around Izo, she saw that several of the men were now face to face with each other, some even throwing punches and reaching for tables and chairs nearby to brandish as weapons.

"Hmm, it looks like my plan is working out a little better than I had originally anticipated... But don't you see, duckling? This is wonderful!" He gripped her shoulders and pulled her out from behind him so that she could see what was happening. "A few short weeks ago, these men wanted you dead and now they're all mesmerized by your beauty!"

Felicity couldn't help but snort and roll her eyes at that. "What beauty are you talking about? Obviously they're just starved for any kind of female companionship since they've been trapped on that godforsaken boat for who knows how long." Would she take the compliments she was being given? No way. Not when she had no good reason to accept it as fact.

Never had she ever heard that she was a beautiful woman, or that she was even somewhat pretty. At least not since before her mother had died years earlier. Always her younger sister had been called the beautiful child of their family, that Felicity may have been the eldest but it was her little sister that had gotten both their mother's beautiful looks as well as her brains.

Apparently it had been Felicity's fate to be born with the short end of the stick and stuck with it for the rest of her life. "Do something," She mumbled under her breath, looking at the brawl that was going on around her. "Make them stop!"

Izo frowned as he looked down at the shorter woman, shaking his head. "I seriously doubt I could stop them even if I wanted to, duckling. You see, when the Whitebeards get wound up about something, it's hard for us to stop."

Yes, she was definitely starting to see that...

"That's it, I'm done." She sighed, feeling more embarrassed than she ever had in her life, this whole damn make-over business doing more harm than good for her self-esteem. "You've had your fun, you got a few laughs out of this but I'm just going to go back to the ship..."

Before Izo could stop her, Felicity had wrapped her arms around herself and began to walk straight for the door. She gently bit on her lower lip, hating herself for even allowing Izo to do as he had pleased. It didn't matter how hard he tried, there was nothing he could do to make her feel any better about the situation. She felt like such a complete and utter fool...

Just as Felicity reached for the door knob, the door flew open and she found herself face to face with the one person she had wanted to avoid at all costs.

* * *

Marco had spent the past several hours walking all around the village doing anything he could think of to pass the time, just so he wouldn't come into contact with the short, curly-haired woman who was slowly driving him to madness.

Jozu's earlier words shouldn't have bothered him, he knew this, but they had indeed bothered him like nothing else did.

_"You sure seem unable to stop staring at that woman... You're certain that's all it is?"_

Damn it! Yes! He knew that there was nothing more to the way he acted around Felicity and he was going to prove it!

Grinding his teeth together, Marco felt his steps take him toward the bar where the crew had agreed to meet up at. All he had to do was be able to stand being in the same proximity as Felicity without snapping at her in any way. It was just that simple. After all, he was the first division commander, he could handle _anything_ that was thrown his way.

Especially if that thing was a woman.

The last thing he had expected though when he opened the door to the bar, was to find the same woman who was the bane of his existence standing on the other side of the door looking... Well, he wasn't sure how to describe how she looked right then.

They both stood frozen in the doorway, brown eyes widening as they stared straight into his own eyes.

Marco gained his senses back first, shaking his head as he took in Felicity's appearance. Wild curls were now more tamed and were currently pulled back by a headband instead of in her face. She wore make-up as well, a light shade of blush, rouge on her lips as well as eye make-up that made her brown eyes even wider and more doe-like. Those weren't the only noticeable changes, there was also the blue dress she wore, which Marco slowly realized was an all-too familiar shade of blue...

A few moments of silence passed between the two before the first division commander managed to tear his gaze away from the woman still staring up at him. His attention now focused onto the men from their crew who seemed to be in a brawl of some sort, and a brow quirked up as Marco took in the scene in front of him.

Suddenly, a bottle was thrown their way and Marco's arms instantly wrapped around Felicity, growling lowly as the bottle hit him across his face. It wasn't so much that he was bothered that it had hit him, but what would have happened had it hit the woman in his arms and hurt her in some way? "What the hell happened while I was gone yoi?!"

The room became deathly quiet, everyone stopping their movements as they looked toward their first division commander with apprehension.

"Marco!" A childish voice rang out amidst the silence and the small commander of the twelfth division ran out into the middle of the room, grinning up at Marco. "You missed it! Izo and Felicity came in, and wow does she clean up good! But anyway! Well, the other guys decided they'd try and take your woman away from you, and so they started a big bar fight over her!"

Haruta turned back to the men, hands to his hips as he called out in a sing-song voice. "Now you're all gonna get it! The commander won't take this lying down! After all, he's going to defend his woman! Right, Marco?"

"That's what this was all about?" Marco groaned. He was going to kill these damned idiots! He didn't care if they were his brothers or not!

A little sound made him turn his head down at the woman who now buried her face against his chest, realizing he still had both arms wound tightly around her. He slowly released Felicity, hands going to her shoulders as he looked her over, inspecting her face for any injuries.

"Are you alright yoi? You weren't hurt, were you?"

Felicity slowly shook her head, her cheeks reddening as she looked away. "N-No, I was just on my way to go back to the ship..."

"The hell you are!"

Both Felicity and Marco turned their attention toward the make-up wearing man glaring at the both of them. "I did not work my ass off to make you into a stunning, beautiful woman for you to just waltz out of here! At the least you should stay in here for a few hours with the rest of us!"

The petite woman huffed. "Well, I don't want to!"

"Duckling, you don't have a choice in the matter!"

"What?! Since when the hell did I sign over my free will to you?!"

"Since I decided to take you on as my special project!"

"I'm not a damn charity case!"

"You could've fooled me."

Marco couldn't help it, the whole situation was just too damn funny. He laughed hard, for the first time in months actually laughing and meaning it.

He reached a hand out to Felicity, lips curving to a gentle smirk as he finally stopped laughing long enough to speak. "I think you should stay yoi. Who knows, you might even have a little bit of fun with us."

Why he had extended his hand to her and asked her to join their crew in drinks and fun, he wasn't even sure himself; seeing the shock on her face, the way she nibbled on her lips in thought before reaching her own hand forward and slipping it into his, made him realize that it was definitely worth it.

"You won't regret it yoi." He murmured before gently tugging Felicity forward to a table.

The woman at his side paused before speaking up. "I think that you might be right... I could use some a bit of fun in my life." She turned her head slightly, offering Marco a small smile.

"Ah I think you're starting to like us Felicity yoi. That's the first time I've ever seen you smile at me."

She froze, face flushing a bright red before grumbling and looking away. "D-Don't decide things like that on your own! J-Just because I've finally accepted that I'm stuck with you all doesn't mean I like you pirates!"

Slowly the commander grinned, watching the woman free her hand from his and hurry off to the nearest table.

Oh? Well he supposed that just meant they would have to make her change her mind about them then.

* * *

The night wore on, the men apologizing profusely to Felicity for how they had acted toward her, making her laugh and say that all was forgiven. Marco couldn't help but watch as Felicity finally relaxed, laughed, danced and seemingly had much fun with the Whitebeards.

The fact that Felicity even got a bit tipsy off the rum that was served made things a bit more fun too. Who knew that under the stiff spoiled attitude she put on, there was a woman who was actually likable? A woman who seemed starved for friendships and only wanted to be liked in return?

Marco caught himself staring after the curly-haired woman, stiffening as Jozu's words once again haunted him. He wasn't getting too attached to the woman, was he?

The more he thought about it, the more he realized that maybe, just maybe he was getting too comfortable around her. And he couldn't have that happening.

Perhaps it would be for the best if he kept his distance for the time, at least until they could determine where her loyalties lay. To her father, or to the pirate crew she herself was slowly warming up to?

"Marco~!"

He couldn't help but chuckle, looking at the woman now seated next to him. Her cheeks were now pink, a sure sign that she was still a bit drunk, as though the bright grin she was now sporting wasn't an obvious sign of that.

"What is it yoi? You having fun?"

She quickly nodded her head. "So~ much fun! I don't think I've ever had so much fun in my life! I've danced and sang and laughed!" She sighed and her lips turned down into a pout. "I only wish it didn't have to end..."

Marco reached a hand out to place on her shoulder, gently squeezing. "It doesn't have to. If you stayed on with us, you could have fun like this all the time yoi."

Her eyes widened slightly, almost as if completely shocked by the idea of having fun like that on a regular basis. "Y-You mean it? Oh Marco~ that would be wonderful~!" She launched herself at him, giggling uncontrollably as her arms wrapped around his neck. "I'd love to have lots o' fun all the time!"

The commander grunted as he was tackled to the floor, arms instinctively holding Felicity in place so she wouldn't injure herself in her drunken state. Even though he himself didn't get drunk often, or enjoy seeing others get stupidly drunk, the sight of the woman like this was almost endearing...

Well at least in this state she wasn't cursing at him or the crew, and this way it was a lot easier to get along with her.

He chuckled, sitting them both up with Felicity still firmly seated in his lap. "Yup, you could stay if you wanted and do as you please yoi."

Felicity stopped, brow furrowing as if in deep thought before turning her attention up to Marco again. Her arms still around his neck tightened slightly. "I... I could do _anything_ I wanted?" She hiccuped, giggling again.

"Anything at all yoi."

"Anything...at all..." She seemed to be mulling this over in her mind.

He watched as she grew silent once more, studying his face with an intense look before tilting her chin up, tugging his head down to her own and pressing her lips against his.

Marco's eyes widened and he sat there dumbly, too stunned to do a damn thing.

Shit.

* * *

**Well that escalated quickly, no? XD  
**

**I sometimes get the feeling I'm an evil authoress for what I put Felicity through. *thinks about it* Nahhh, if you think this was bad you should see what else I've got planned! *gives an evil laugh, pauses and clears throat* I-I mean, poor Felicity... *shifts eyes* Yes, poor poor Felicity...  
**

**I'm sorry if the chapter isn't as good as previous chapters, I've had so much homework to do this week and my finals are coming up next week so the next couple of chapters may not be all that great just to warn you all.**

**As always, feel free to review because good or bad I always respond to reviews and I would love to know what you ducklings thought of the chapter! **


	6. Chapter 6

******A big thank you to my lovely ducklings: lucyknight13, Shiningheart of ThunderClan, and ********Reishino Ayasaki for your awesome reviews on the previous chapter! Also thank you to all the other ducklings who have favorited/followed this story as well!**

******I'd just like to say I seriously have the BEST reviewers out there. I love each of you ducklings so much and getting alerts from you all puts the biggest smile on my face. :D **

******Now the next chapter will be the one that gets the main plot rolling around. I'm sure some of you are thinking, "Wait what? There's an actual plot to this besides romance?!" Yes, there is indeed a plot or two in this story, that will hopefully help move the romance along a little quicker, so I hope you'll enjoy the more we see of the plot! XD  
**

* * *

Chapter 6

If there was one thing Felicity hated, it was feeling that she was being left out of something important that she should know about.

Currently she found herself frowning at a certain individual who seemed to be avoiding her and had been doing so for the past several days. Ever since the night she had gotten drunk at the bar with the Whitebeards.

Her chin was propped up on a palm as she sat at the table where several other members of the crew were all eating around her, talking and laughing, but Felicity's gaze was focused on Marco and Marco alone. Just what was his problem and why was he ignoring her like she had the plague?

"Felicity?"

What could it be?

"Duckling?"

Had she said or done something to make him mad at her once again?

"Hey!"

And here she thought that they might have had a chance to actually get along now...

"For the love of God, pay attention when you're being spoken to!"

She cried out as a fist collided with the top of her head, whimpering as she rubbed the injured spot before whirling around and glaring at the culprit. "What the hell, Izo?!"

Said cross-dresser snorted, arms crossed in front of him as he stared Felicity down with narrowed eyes. "It's rude to ignore someone who's talking to you. Didn't that brute of a father you have teach you that much at least?"

Brown eyes cut to slits at the mention of her father before snorting in response to Izo's statement. "We aren't even going to touch that topic... But speaking of ignoring, do you have any idea why Marco's been avoiding me so much lately?"

Izo stiffened slightly but quickly moved his attention to his nails, as though inspecting them. "Hmm, he's been avoiding you? Now why would you think such a thing?"

Of course, sneaky Izo knew all-too-well just what Felicity was referring to...

* * *

_Several nights ago..._

Felicity's arms wound tightly around Marco's neck as she sighed happily into the kiss. The Phoenix was too stupefied to do anything as the tipsy woman in his lap pressed her lips firmly against his own, pressing hers form more closely against him.

To his horror, Marco found his own arms moving to wrap about her waist in order to bring her even closer and tilted his head to deepen the kiss. It was as though his body was on auto-pilot and he couldn't stop himself. A soft mewl coming from Felicity made him stiffen and snap back to his senses just as he felt his body betray him, his blood running south after hearing that one little sound.

Yanking his lips from hers, he firmly grasped her shoulders and held her at arm's length, trying to ignore the way his blood was pounding in his veins. "D-Don't do that yoi."

Wide brown eyes began to tear up and her lower lip quivered slightly. "But you sai' I could do anythin' I wanted~!"

Marco groaned, releasing one of her shoulders so he could pinch the bridge of his nose with a set of fingers. "I didn't mean you could do _that_! Besides, you're drunk and I won't have you despise me even more for even thinking of taking advantage of you while you're in this state yoi."

Felicity's brow furrowed and she frowned before launching herself at Marco once again. "But I wanna! I-I liked it a lot!"

"Damn it, no! You can't yoi!" Marco growled, trying to keep the woman at bay while at the same time trying to control his body's reactions.

"Yesh~!" She kept squirming and trying to free herself from Marco's grasp, only to end up finally slipping and falling over, finding her face directly in Marco's crotch.

The first division commander's reaction was instantaneous: hands reached out and grabbed Felicity, flinging her as far away from him as he could. When her back collided with a table and he heard a sickening crack sound, he froze.

His eyes slowly widened at the realization of what he had just done. Shit. "Felicity?" No sound came from the woman. "Felicity?" He called to her again, scrambling to his feet and rushing to her side, turning her over to see if she was alright.

"Felicity?" He gently shook her as he held her in his arms, but he got no reaction whatsoever from her. Slight panic began to take over as his grip on her tightened. "Felicity?!"

A hand grasped at Marco's shoulder and his head whipped around to find Izo frowning down at him.

"Alright, what happened?"

"Izo!" Hell, how did he even begin to explain himself? "I... I accidentally pushed her too hard and she's hurt herself. We have to get her help for..." A little moan came from the woman in his arms as she squirmed slightly, brown eyes fluttering open before they closed again and she lost consciousness.

Marco released the breath he had been holding in, thankful to whatever deities were listening that Felicity was alright. Well, as alright as she could be in the given circumstances.

His brother knelt down, carefully inspecting the unconscious woman before turning his gaze toward Marco. "It looks like she'll be alright but we'll know more when she wakes up. Now I'll ask you again, what happened exactly? And I want every damned detail or so help me I'll beat it out of you."

Marco sighed knowing he was fucked every which way no matter what. "Well..."

After he finished his short tale, Izo's eyes had widened to saucers and his mouth was agape. Damn, Marco hated to think just how lowly his fellow commander thought of him, but what he hadn't expected was...

"Hot damn! This has worked out even better than I originally thought it would!"

The hell did he just say?

Marco's eyes narrowed and he hissed out through clenched teeth. "Just what the hell does that mean yoi? _What_ exactly worked out?"

"As if that's not obvious," Izo snorted. "Please tell me that you are at least aware of the chemistry that you and that woman have?" His head nodded to Felicity, slowly grinning as it dawned on Marco just what the other commander had planned from the beginning.

Fucking Izo.

"You damn bastard!" He hissed, trying his damndest not to jostle the woman he was still holding onto. "You mean to tell me that the whole fight fiasco from earlier and then getting her drunk was all to see if we held any kind of attraction for one another yoi?!"

The cross-dresser shrugged as if that had been the most obvious thing in the world. "Well yes. Oh, don't you get pissy at me! You know damn well that you and Felicity have been fighting sexual tension since the moment she was brought aboard the ship! And frankly, we all feel that it would be a good match. The gods know you couldn't handle some tame, weak little woman at your side after all. The woman is a spitfire that will be able to keep you on your toes at all times, which is _exactly_ what you need."

Marco had heard enough. He slowly stood to his feet, Felicity still in his arms, before turning to Izo. "No. Whatever you have planned, I won't fall victim to it yoi. I'm not going to allow myself to feel _anything_ at all for her. We don't know if her allegiance is with us or if she won't betray us to the Navy the first chance she gets."

Izo opened his mouth to retort but Marco cut him off. "No, just drop it. That's it, no more of this shit Izo, promise me."

* * *

_At the present..._

And of course Izo had made the damn promise that he wouldn't try to meddle anymore, but of course that didn't mean he couldn't recruit the other commanders and other members of the crew to try and do some meddling of their own.

Felicity had no recollection of the kiss or anything that had happened afterwards, waking up the next morning blissfully unaware. Marco was more than pleased with that but Izo, not so much considering he had wanted to see Felicity's reaction. The cross-dresser wasn't worried though, he and the others on the crew were going to make damn sure that their Phoenix and Duckling stopped dancing around any feelings that they may have had for one another.

After all, it was obvious that both really needed to give into all that sexual tension sooner or later.

Felicity was still frowning at Marco's back, watching as he left the hall before sighing. "I wish I knew what it is I've done... I just want to get along with everyone."

Izo couldn't help but feel some form of pity for the woman, it wasn't her fault that their first division commander was being ridiculous about the whole situation. A hand gently reached out to pat at her back, trying to give her some form of reassurance where he could. "Chin up, duckling. Marco's probably just terribly busy and doesn't even realize he's avoiding you."

A big fat lie but he had to do what he could to keep the curly-haired woman from being upset.

Felicity lifted her head slightly, giving a small smile. "You're probably right, I might just be overreacting." She shook her head. "Don't know why it's bothering me so much, I mean just a couple weeks ago we were at each others throats." She laughed, missing the gleam in Izo's eyes at this little confession.

"Oh really?"

The woman nodded, unaware of the silent plotting the other man was doing. "I can't say I blame him though, I was a real bitch the first few weeks I was here."

"I wouldn't be too worried about that, our men _did_ snatch you up with the intention of killing you."

A hand ran through her messy curls, her mind going back to that time that seemed so long ago. "To be honest, I don't know that I blame any of you for feeling like you did... What the Navy did, what my father did..." She frowned, head turning down as she let the sentence trail off.

"Don't dwell too much on it, duckling. Especially since there are so many more important things you could be thinking about," Izo coughed into his hand in an attempt to hide his next words. "Like Marco."

Felicity's head cocked to the side, eyes blinking as she stared at Izo curiously. "Did you say something?"

"Hmm? I didn't say anything, you must have heard the wind." The commander waved a hand flippantly before standing to his feet. "Now I have to get to a commander's meeting, but we'll continue this conversation later."

Before she could get another word in, the cross-dresser waltzed out of the hall, leaving Felicity to her thoughts. She sighed before laying her head down against the table, burying her face in her arms.

Damn it, things had never been this confusing before. Why did it have to start now?

She closed her eyes and tried to clear her thoughts of all the frustrations she felt. Suddenly she began to see Marco in her mind, Felicity was there as well. Her arms were wrapped tightly around the commander as she tugged his head down to hers and kissed him soundly. Marco's own arms slowly slid around her, tugging her closer, closer and closer still. Their kiss deepened, tongues slowly darting out and battling with one another for dominance...

Felicity gasped and sat straight up, her face as red as a tomato as both hands flew up to cover her cheeks. What... was that? She turned her head all around, as though afraid someone had seen her thoughts. Quickly she shook her head, trying to rid herself of those thoughts.

She didn't know what worried her more: the fact she was actually having those thoughts, or the fact that she didn't really mind having those kinds of thoughts about Marco.

But then again... Why did they seem like they were familiar thoughts to begin with?

* * *

***shoves Marco and Felicity together* Now kiss and give into all that sexual tension! *evil laughter*  
**

**And before any of you ask, no Felicity will not be remembering what happened at the bar right away. Eventually she might remember, but if that does happen then it won't happen for quite some time. **

**Next chapter will start one of the plots I've got planned, and we'll even get to see a little bit of Felicity's past so look out for that! I'll see you all next week!**

**Feel free to review because good or bad I always respond to reviews and I would love to know what you ducklings thought of this chapter! **


	7. Chapter 7

******A big thank you to my lovely ducklings: lucyknight13, missNOBODYakaKiDcRaXy, Shiningheart of ThunderClan and Guest: ********pharoah999 for your reviews on the previous chapter! A big thank you to all the other ducklings who have favorited/followed this story as well!**

******Guest: pharoah999, I'm really glad you're enjoying the story thus far! I thought Duckling would be a cute nickname for Felicity and apparently so did Izo. And we all know that Izo is going to do whatever he wants and if he wants to give Felicity a cute nickname, then darn it he shall! *laughs* **

******You're all getting this chapter a lot earlier today than when I usually post my updates on Thursdays, and that's because this will probably be the only time I have to be able to update today. I'll be graduating from college with my Bachelor's degree on Saturday so I'm extremely busy this week getting my junk done (which includes cleaning, decorating my graduation cap, and other final things) so here you are! I hope you all enjoy~!**

* * *

Chapter 7

Felicity's fingers gripped the stick in her hands as tightly as she possibly could, head whipping up to glare up at the fifth division commander who was rapidly approaching her once again.

Vista swung his own stick down and Felicity grunted, swinging hers up to block the potential blow. As soon as the two sticks collided, Felicity's broke in her hands, the impact causing the petite woman to fall flat on her ass.

The taller man let out a loud guffaw in laughter, reaching a hand out to Felicity who in turn grinned up at him and placed her hand in his. Vista tugged her up to her feet with ease, patting her on the back once she was standing on her own.

"Not bad! You're definitely improving from the first time I sparred with you. Keep this up and you might even give me a run for my money!"

Felicity snorted and shook her head before reaching for the broken pieces of her sparring stick. "Says the one who made me fall down with one smack. But don't worry Vista, I'll definitely do my best to get you one day." She grinned before sighing at the broken pieces in her hand. "But now what? I can't very well use this anymore."

A childish voice piped up at that moment. "You could always see if Marco has a spare! He hardly has time to spar with us anymore so he wouldn't mind I don't think!"

The curly-haired woman turned and offered Haruta a smile before tossing the broken pieces of her stick at the younger boy. "Thanks for the tip, I think I'll go pay the pineapple a visit then and be back later on."

With that, she waved at the men that were still standing around and headed down the hall toward Marco's room. Things were still a bit awkward between them, though what Marco's reasoning was Felicity had no idea. It bothered her, she had to admit to herself, though she wasn't sure why it bothered her so much that he was still acting odd.

Then again, why did it seem to bother her whenever he went out of his way to ignore her? Why did a lot of little things like that upset her? Nothing Marco did or said should bother her in any way whatsoever... Lips curved to a small frown as she tried to shake those thoughts off.

Soon, she found herself standing in front of the door that would lead to Marco's quarters and more than likely, also lead to Marco as well. Taking a deep breath, she forced a smile to her face and threw open the door.

Sure enough, Marco stood directly in front of one of the bookshelves in his room, scanning over the contents before turning his head. Once he realized that Felicity was in the room, he turned his attention back to the shelves, calling out. "What can I do for you, Felicity yoi? Must be pretty important for you to barge in here like this without so much as a knock."

Brown eyes rolled at the sarcasm she detected before she strolled further into the room. "Sorry, I'll make sure to _properly_ announce my arrival next time." Her steps moved her right to Marco's side, blinking as she began to look over the shelves and shelves filled with books. "What are you looking for?"

Marco's hand reached out for a specific book, opening it and thumbing through the pages before placing it back onto the shelf. "Looking for a book about the climate of the next island we're going to make a stop at." He frowned before motioning to one of the lower shelves with a hand. "Could you look down there and see if you can find anything about volcanic island climates?"

"On it!" Felicity instantly knelt down to get a better look at the shelves Marco had motioned to, her fingers trailing along the spines of each book on the shelf. "How's this one?" She grabbed a book that seemed to be what the first division commander might have been looking for, offering it to him before turning her gaze back to the shelf.

She heard a sound of approval and again let her fingers run along the spines of the books. Now that she had a chance to look at these book shelves, Felicity realized that she had never known just how many books Marco had in his room...

Her hand froze upon seeing a certain familiar title, a book she hadn't laid her eyes on in years. Felicity reached for the book, gently pulling it out of its place on the shelf and staring at it with a look of reverent awe. Fingertips traced the worn letters of the book's cover as she silently read the title to herself.

_The Tales of Livingstone Clark the Adventurer _

Instantly her mind was taken back to happier times so very long ago...

* * *

_"Mama!" _

_A woman with long, curly, snow-white hair turned around and instantly she smiled, kneeling to the floor and opening her arms out to her elder daughter. "Come here, my Felicity." The woman's bright blue eyes sparkled as the mischievous little seven-year-old threw herself into her mother's arms. _

_"Mama, Mama! Read to us please!" _

_"Us?" The white-haired beauty blinked and looked over Felicity's mop of curls to find her three-year-old daughter toddling up to them as well, her arms extended out to her mother. She laughed and opened her arms once more to allow for more room for her youngest daughter to join both she and Felicity in the hug. "And what do my two little joys want me to read to them?"_

_In unison, the two sisters cried out. "The Adventurer!"_

_"Ah, my favorite book as well," Their mother grinned and reached for her worn-out copy of The Tales of Livingstone Clark the Adventurer which lay on a nearby table. Settling on the floor, she patted the space in front of her and the two girls scrambled to sit and listen with rapt attention._

_Their mother hummed and her fingers began to turn the pages quickly, trying to find her previous place in the book. "Now where did we stop at last? Was it when Clark was on an adventure to find the island in the sky? Or perhaps it was the time Clark traveled on an adventure to Amazon Lily, fighting both unknown dangers as well as the native females? Maybe..."_

_"No!" Both girls shrieked as they interrupted their mother, giggling uncontrollably. _

_"Don't you remember, Mama?" Felicity was quick to give her input, her younger sister nodding her head furiously in agreement. "You stopped right after the sea kings began to chase after Clark!"_

_Their mother gasped in mock surprise and the little girls giggled once again. "You're right! How could I have forgotten? You two are so smart." She gave her daughters a doting smile, reaching a hand out to ruffle at both their heads. _

_After a few more pages were turned, the book was finally opened to the right spot. "Now, where were we? Ah here we go," She cleared her throat____ and began to tell her daughters of Clark's great adventure_. 

_"Clark had been in many threatening situations before, but none of those other threats had seemed so dire as looking directly into the face of a deadly sea king. What could he possibly do? How could he ever escape out of this seemingly hopeless situation? Well, the great Adventurer wasn't done for just yet, as he still had a trick or two up his sleeve..."  
_

* * *

Tears welled up in Felicity's eyes and they slowly began to fall one by one onto the book she still held in her grasp.

Marco's head turned toward the woman kneeling by him in order to ask her to find another title, only to stiffen at seeing her silently crying. Slowly, he knelt and saw just what it was that was making Felicity react like she was.

He had no idea why a children's book that was older than he was was making her shed tears, nor did he have any idea why the sight of her crying made his heart clench... At any rate, he wanted it to stop. Gently, he took hold of the book and attempted to tug it out of her grasp, only to have Felicity yank it out of his grip and clutch it to her chest.

Wide brown eyes looked into his own and she forced herself to swallow before quietly speaking. "I... I'd like to borrow this if possible?" Felicity quickly rubbed any tears away and kept holding onto the book as tightly as she could.

The first division commander frowned, again reaching for the book. "Are you sure? Seems like it's really shaken you up yoi."

She yanked the book out of his reach once more, shaking her head. "I just, it's my favorite book. Silly, I know since it's a book for little kids, but," She pulled the book away from her chest, a small smile gracing her face as she stared at it. "I promise to return it once I'm done, but I just... I'd like to relive my childhood for a bit."

She offered Marco a bright smile, all traces of her earlier tears gone and he was unable to do anything but nod. It was funny, she really did have a nice smile, it made her look nice, happy even. He couldn't help but think that in that moment, Felicity even looked...

Marco stopped those thoughts right then, shaking his head before standing to his feet. Felicity followed suit, and the blonde finally sighed, relenting. "Alright yoi, if you really want to borrow it that badly it's fine. Just be careful with it."

She brightened and bobbed her head up and down. "I promise! I'll be extremely careful with it and I'll bring it back in the same condition I borrowed it!"

"I trust you yoi." And in that moment, he meant those words. Marco's hand darted out before he could stop himself, gently grasping one of her shoulders which made Felicity look up at him in confusion.

"Marco?"

"Felicity, there's something I need to tell you yoi." It was time he came clean about what happened in the bar, it was the right thing to do and he only hoped she wouldn't hate him for what he was going to confess to.

Felicity's gaze seemed to pierce right through to his soul and Marco opened his mouth to speak, trying to ignore the pangs he felt in his chest the longer those big brown eyes stared up at him. "Felicity, I-"

"MARCO!"

The moment interrupted, both individuals felt their heads snap toward the door where Namur stood, waving a wet and soggy piece of paper in his finned hand. "Marco! I need to talk to you immediately! It's urgent!"

The raven-haired woman managed to tug her shoulder free from Marco. "Namur seems to need you now, I'll be around later if you still want to talk." Smiling slightly, she headed straight for the door, book still in her grasp as she left the two commanders behind.

Marco's eyes followed Felicity until she was no longer in sight before releasing a heavy sigh. "So what seems to be going on, Namur?"

* * *

"Fishman Island's in trouble?"

Marco's arms were crossed, eyes narrowed as he gave a solid nod. "That's what the letter we received stated. It didn't give us many details, but the royal family is personally asking that we come to Fishman Island in order to see if there's anything we can do to help. From what little I gathered, things have gone into chaos ever since Pops was killed several months back."

Several of the commanders murmured amongst themselves and Marco lifted a hand to gain control over the room again. "I know some of you probably want us to continue to regroup before we even think about heading down there, but I think it's what Pops would want us to do. He fought hard to make Fishman Island one of his territories in order to protect its citiznes, and we should at least see if there's something we can do to help."

He paused and looked over at the other faces. "I'm ultimately going to leave it as a majority vote. We either ignore the call for help, or we go down there as soon as possible."

A hushed silence took over the room as the other commanders looked at one another and then back at Marco. Slowly, they one by one gave their answers as to what they wanted to do.

* * *

_And so Clark made lasting friendships with the natives of the Kingdom of Torino after leaving them with some of his many learning materials on herbs and medicine, promising to return to visit once he had finished his Adventures on the Grand Line... _

Felicity was so wrapped up in her book, the memories that the Tales of Livingstone Clark brought back for her, that she hardly even registered that dozens of crew members were running all around her in a hurry.

"Change our course immediately!"

"Hoist the sails! Set course for Paradise!"

Felicity heard _that much_, pulling the book out of her face upon hearing that they were heading to Paradise. She found it odd, considering that they had been heading in the opposite direction.

"You look a bit perplexed."

She jumped slightly upon finding Marco already standing at her side, his usual half-sleepy look on his face as he watched the crew run back and forth.

"Well, I wasn't aware we were going to make a stop in Paradise, especially since we were heading to a volcanic island last I heard," She frowned, shifting from one foot to the other as her head tilted up to stare up at Marco. "Did something happen?" It was the only plausible explanation for the sudden change in their course.

"Actually, something did come up, we have to make an emergency trip to Fishman Island yoi." Felicity waited for Marco to elaborate but he didn't say another word about the matter. Guess that meant he didn't want her to know too much...

Although, the idea of going to Fishman Island did seem appealing. Especially after all the stories her mother had told she and her sister about the undersea land with fishmen and merfolk. If she was able to visit the place Clark had spoken so highly of, then it could almost be considered...

"An adventure," She murmured, eyes shining in excitement. Felicity whipped her head up, ignoring the look Marco was giving her as she asked quickly. "How long until we get there?"

The blonde was still giving her a peculiar stare, but nontheless shrugged his shoulders slightly. "Depends. We have to get the ship coated first and for that we have to go to Sabaody and find someone to coat it for us yoi."

Felicity's grin widened upon hearing that, looking out toward the sea where the crazy childhood dream her mother had instilled in her slowly seemed to be coming to life. Maybe this was it. Maybe, just maybe, this was her chance at fulfilling the dreams she had had when she was younger.

The gears in her mind began to turn and it seemed that nothing could stop her at all if she put her mind to it. Her father was out of the picture and couldn't stop her anymore, as he had never given a single damn about seeing either of his daughters happy once their mother had died. The crew could help her with her travels since they themselves traveled all over the Line, and in the process she could even possibly go through the same routes that Clark had!

The life of an Adventurer...

Felicity whirled around, throwing her arms around Marco without even thinking twice. If she had seen the look of discomfort on the commander's face the moment she launched herself against him, then she didn't let that stop her. "Let's head to Sabaody Archipelago then!"

* * *

**So... What did you all think? Loved it? Hated it? Next chapter, we go to Sabaody where the Whitebeards run into a familiar face and even encounter a new individual whom they have a hard time determining if he's friend or foe. And our dear Felicity will find out more about her family's past that she never even knew was possible.  
**

**You may not recognize the book that I used in this chapter as the book that Felicity's mom read to her, and that's because Livingstone Clark the Adventurer is all my own original concept that I came up with and I based him off two real-life adventurers. (Marco cookies to anyone who can guess who these two adventurers are!)  
**

**We even got to see a little bit of Felicity's childhood this chapter. Wasn't she just the cutest thing ever?! I absolutely loved writing out little Felicity along with her little sister and their mother and this won't be the last we see of either of them in this story.**

******I know several of you are wanting and eagerly anticipating a relationship to soon bloom between our Phoenix and Duckling, but hopefully in the next few chapters there will be some sort of progress! That is, if Marco and Felicity will co-operate. *glares at them both* They're both stubborn... **

**As always, feel free to review because I always respond to reviews and I would love to know what you ducklings thought of this chapter! **


	8. Chapter 8

******A big thank you to my lovely ducklings: lucyknight13, Shiningheart of ThunderClan, and Reishino Ayasaki ********for your reviews on the previous chapter! A big thank you to all the other ducklings who have favorited/followed this story as well!**

******Shiningheart of ThunderClan you guessed the names of the real-life adventurers I used in the previous chapter and got it right so you get all the Marco cookies! You are a very perceptive duckling, just thought I'd let you know this. *grins* **

******I finally graduated from college with my BS but that's not the end of the line for me just yet ducklings. Next on the list is to find a job and an apartment on my own as soon as possible so the next few updates may not be as good considering all the new stress I find myself under. Just a warning to my faithful followers! **

* * *

Chapter 8

Felicity's initial thought of Sabaody Archipelago was that there were too many damn bubbles.

She kept batting them out of her face, grumbling while marching behind Marco and the others in a dutiful manner. "How much longer until we find someone to coat the ship?"

"If you keep asking like a petulant two-year-old every few minutes, it'll take even longer than it already has yoi."

She frowned, arms crossing in front of her as she looked all around at her surroundings. So far, this wasn't looking like much of an adventure. The only thing she had done was walk around for the past couple hours with the crew, looking for someone to coat the ship.

Felicity released a small sigh, rolling her eyes as another large bubble floated by and hit her right in the face again. "Damn bubbles!" Her hands reached out, flailing to try and get the bubble out of her face, and unknowingly colliding right with Marco's back.

Everything stopped and she winced as he slowly turned, frowning down at her. "Having fun there?" He slowly shook his head, running a hand through his hair before pointing in the opposite direction. "You know what, it might be best if you found something to do while we're here yoi. Since finding a coater doesn't seem to be exciting enough for you."

She winced at the tone he used, as though he were scolding a child, felt her cheeks flush a crimson color and turned her head to the side so no one could see. "Fine by me. I'll just see you when I see you..." She muttered before turning on her heel, leaving Marco and the other commanders behind.

Marco's eyes widened slightly at the defeated tone Felicity's voice held and took a step forward to stop her, only to stop himself and shake his head. It would be best if she weren't around to distract them all, right?

Right. At least that's what he was going to tell himself. Though as he turned to face his fellow commanders, he was met with narrowed stares and even a couple shaking heads. Marco groaned and slapped a palm to his face. "Stop looking at me like that! Let's just go try to find someone willing to help us yoi."

And with that, he stomped past his brothers, ignoring the glares and murmurs that seemed to now surround him.

"If you've got time to whisper behind my back, then you've got time to help me find a damn coater yoi!"

* * *

Felicity studied the numbers of the groves as she passed by them, taking care to remember which grove the ship had been docked at so that she could find the ship more easily when it was time to head back. Even though there were still too many bubbles in the area for her liking, she had to admit that Sabaody seemed to be a very bright and colorful place. Felicity finally let her guard down, smiling and relaxing as she allowed herself to look all around and enjoy the sights that were to be found.

She was actually glad she left the Whitebeards behind, even if just for a little while. Marco seemed to be in a foul mood, though she supposed she couldn't blame him. It had been a long day already and they hadn't had much luck finding someone who was actually willing to help their crew out with coating the ship... Felicity's steps slowed and she let out a tiny sigh, deciding that she hadn't helped matters any by overreacting over the bubbles.

She'd just have to apologize later on, that usually seemed to cheer Marco right up and she always did enjoy seeing him smile rather than scowling...

Felicity never even realized that she was being followed until a dagger whizzed right by her, the blade leaving a small cut in Felicity's cheek as it imbedded itself in one of several trees she was standing in front of.

The woman froze in place, reaching a hand up to the cut with realization slowly hitting her that she had been targeted. But surely it was a mistake, right? Yeah, that had to be it. A horrible, almost tragic, mistake. Oh but it wasn't as a cloaked individual flew at an inhuman speed from behind, landing directly in front of the petite woman. She sucked in a breath and took several quick steps back.

The would-be assailant advanced on her, pulling another dagger out of his cloak. "Well well, looks like I've finally caught up to you, Whitebeard wench."

Brown eyes blinked owlishly at the statement. Wench? Is that why he was attempting to skewer her like he was? "Wait, what? What are you- HEY!" He released the dagger, Felicity jumping out of the way as she quickly began to realize that this man wasn't about to let her try and explain herself.

"Don't try to play coy with me, my dear. I saw the Whitebeards dock here in Sabaody and followed after you lot ever since, but I hadn't expected a woman to be with one of the most feared crews on the Grand Line. Not that any of that matters, considering it'll all be over for you very soon."

Felicity's eyes widened and she took a step back, and then another even as the hooded male advanced upon her.

* * *

"Well if it isn't the Whitebeards. What brings you all to this place?"

Marco's eyes narrowed at the sight of the infamous Dark King himself, forcing himself to turn and face the man now standing behind he and the other commanders. "Rayleigh," The blonde frowned at seeing Roger's former first mate standing right in front of he and the rest of the commanders.

The Dark King himself grinned at his former rivals, nodding his head in acknowledgement. "Why yes, that is my name, but I prefer Ray since I'm trying to live a quiet life away from prying Marine eyes. You didn't answer my question, Marco. You've all kept quiet the past several months since Marineford, haven't heard a peep out of any of you and now you suddenly visit Sabaody out of the blue. Leaves me to ask the question, what could possibly make the remnants of Whitebeard's great crew come here?"

Oh how he disliked this man, but the commander tried to keep his personal feelings out of the conversation as much as possible. "Isn't it obvious?" Marco gave a half-shrug. "We've come to find a coater for our ship since we need to make a special trip, but so far we haven't had much luck finding someone willing to help us out."

Rayleigh chuckled. "Sounds like you're in quite the bind then. I might know of someone who could help though."

Marco was skeptical of course but released a sigh nontheless and asked. "I'll bite, who are you referring to?"

The other opened his mouth to speak when a piercing shriek rang through the air, followed by the feminine cry of a name...

"MARCO!"

Said blonde could feel his heart stop in his chest, head turning in the direction the familiar voice's cry had come from. His eyes narrowed, teeth ground together as he let out a low snarl. It was Felicity's voice and she sounded absolutely terrified. Without hesitating a moment longer, the first division commander allowed familiar blue flames to completely take over his body, wings now forming where his arms where, talons forming where his feet were as well.

All his thoughts were concentrated on one thing: Find Felicity! Save her! Can't lose anyone else! And for the first time in seven months, ever since the great battle, Marco used his Phoenix form, flying off as fast as he could to try and stop another precious person from dying on his watch.

* * *

"You won't be getting away from me so easily, Whitebeard wench!"

Felicity felt her eye twitch. The nickname was getting old fast and she was not happy whatsoever. "Oh would you come off that?" She growled, annoyance laced in her tone. "Stop it! I keep telling you I'm not actually a member of the crew, they kidnapped me a couple months ago and I've been stuck there ever since!"

"Likely story!"

"It's true! I'm the daughter of a Marine Admiral!"

The man paused momentarily before shaking his head. "Things like that don't make a lick of difference to me, what matters is who you ally yourself to in the here and now," Reaching over his back, he pulled a long blade out and whipped it around in front of him, pointing it straight at the woman before him.

Felicity's feet brought her a step back, knowing that if she didn't try to flee then she was as good as dead. "Shit," She cursed softly, turning on her heel and running as fast as she could. Her ears caught the sound of footsteps hot on her trail and she ran faster, ignoring everything in her path.

Including a large rock directly in front of her.

Her feet collided with the stone and she cried out, falling flat onto her face before scrambling to a crawl in order to try and escape. The footsteps slowed until the male stopped right behind her, bringing a foot down onto her back and making Felicity cry out from the pain. The man pressed his foot further into Felicity's back, ignoring the sharp cries of pain.

"S-Stop! P-P... Please!"

"Sorry, but your fate was sealed the moment you allied yourself to the Whitebeards."

Felicity's eyes screwed shut, resigning herself to her imminent death. It was funny, all of this reminded her of the time when she had been taken against her will the first time. In the span of those short months, she had made friendships she had never thought possible, people who were genuinely concerned with her well-being and acted as though they cared for her.

And now, now she'd never be able to see them again, she would never be able to find her sister and be reunited with her, never be able to finally disclose just what she felt toward Marco...

She blinked at that last thought before groaning, wincing at the foot still dug into her spinal column. Fuck it all, who was she kidding? She knew she felt something toward the pineapple head. What that was, she had no clue, but it wasn't the burning hatred she had once felt for him. But could she really just allow herself to die without even figuring out what the hell her feelings were?

No. She wouldn't go down without putting up one last fight.

Felicity propped herself up on her arms, in a last ditch effort to save herself and screeched as loud as she possibly could. "MARCO!" She coughed, collapsing as a foot connected with her head and sent her flying in the opposite direction.

"Quiet!" He hissed as he approached Felicity once again. "Lie down and accept your death!"

As she tried to open her eyes, she realized everything around her was blurry and made her extremely dizzy, but her eyes could definitely make out the blade that glinted in the sunlight. Felicity screwed her eyes shut and curled up into a ball as she waited for the blade to swing down and end her life.

But death never came.

A harsh, indignant cry was heard, followed by a loud thud sound and the raven-haired woman managed to open her eyes to see just what had happened. A soft gasp escaped as she slowly lifted her head and looked up, staring at the back of a large, vibrant blue-colored bird, flames coming from every which way on its body. The bird slowly turned, staring down at her with a soft gaze that made Felicity try to stand to her feet just to get a closer look at the beautiful creature.

But those eyes, they were so familiar... Trembling hands reached up to gently stroke at the bird's head, the realization hitting her upon looking into its eyes who this majestic creature was. "M-Marco? B-But how?" Then she realized something else and her lips slowly curved up into a weak smile. "You came for me." She breathed out in a whisper.

Marco's bird-like features turned into those of relief. "Felicity, you have no idea how glad I am I made it to you in time yoi..."

"Marco, I..." Her words stopped as her consciousness began to fade out, eyes rolling into the back of her head as her body became limp.

Blue flaming arms were around Felicity in an instant, cradling her against his chest before turning to face her assailant once again. "You've got some nerve coming after her knowing she's protected by our crew."

A dark laugh was heard as the man pulled his hood down, revealing a tanned face framed by short brown hair. Dark eyes narrowed as the grin he sported widened. "Been awhile hasn't it, Marco? Or should I call you by your nickname, Phoenix? I figured I could get your attention by doing some kind of harm to the girl."

Marco's grip on the woman in his arms tightened slightly. "Tyr," He acknowledged the younger pirate. The boy had been on Roger's crew, one of the youngest members and had taken it especially hard when his captain had been captured and executed all those years ago. Last he had heard, Tyr had been traveling the Grand Line on his own, causing quite a bit of mayhem and destruction wherever he went.

The thought of what kind of harm Tyr could have done to Felicity made Marco's blood boil, made him want blood, but as long as Felicity was safe, he wouldn't retaliate. Not just yet anyway. "What do you want with us yoi? You had no right to go after Felicity like that."

"Ah, Felicity? Pretty name for a pretty girl. Didn't realize you and she were so close, had I known such a piece of information, I might have gotten to know her a bit more," He paused, tongue sliding out to lick at his lips. "_In__timately_."

Marco saw red. "Fuck you, you sadistic bastard! You won't lay a hand on her yoi!" He snarled, the flames on his body intensifying as he tried his hardest not to strike out and kill the fool in front of him.

"That's enough, Tyr!"

Both men stopped their movements, turning to find Rayleigh standing several yards away, advancing on them both. "If I were you Marco, I'd think about getting her to a place where she can rest," He nodded his head to Felicity still in the commander's arms. "If you want, I know of a place we could go that's out of the way and no one would bother you."

His gaze turned down to Felicity, curled up against him and still out cold. He didn't like Rayleigh, and certainly didn't trust him as far as he could throw him, but considering the situation and that Felicity needed help... Marco had to choose: Accept help from his former enemy, or let Felicity suffer?

"Alright," He murmured, his gaze never leaving her face. "If you could take us there soon that would be helpful yoi."

Rayleigh nodded before turning his attention back to Tyr, eyes narrowing. "As for you brat, you've got a lot of explaining to do. Especially since I told you the Whitebeards were off limits."

* * *

Felicity groaned, eyes blinking blearily as she tried to sit up only to find herself lying down on a small cot in an unknown room all by herself. Damn, what had happened? Then the memories all came rushing back to her in that moment, the man attacking her, Felicity fighting for her life and screaming for help, and Marco...

Her cheeks slowly began to heat up at the memory of the bird he had transformed into in order to save her, a beautiful, blue creature covered in flames that hadn't burned her when she touched him. Felicity had always known Marco was a devil fruit user, but she had had no idea just what his ability was. Now, she knew he was a Zoan user...

Quickly she shook her head. "Keep it together, Felicity!" She couldn't allow herself to get flustered just because of what she had seen! Taking a deep breath, she swung her legs over the cot and stood to her feet, padding toward the door and opening it. Her head poked out and she breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the other commanders sitting in what appeared to be a bar.

"FELICITY~!" She blinked as a smaller body collided with hers, clinging to her and soon covering the front of her shirt in tears. "I was so worried! We were all worried! When we all saw you like that, I was sure that you were a goner! You can't do that to us ever again!"

"Haruta..."

"Promise me you won't ever get hurt like that again!" The boy sniffled, fingers gripping onto her shirt even tighter. "Promise me! I-I can't lose you too!"

Felicity's stared down at the younger boy who was blubbering and holding onto her for dear life, shocked to hear those words come out of his mouth. When had she become someone so precious to these crew members? She had never felt so needed, so cared about since...

Since before her younger sister left her behind.

She felt tears well up in her own eyes but managed to blink them away as her arms wrapped around Haruta, burying her face in the top of his head. "I promise I'll try my hardest not to get hurt again. I can't promise for sure it won't ever happen, but I'll do my best to stay as safe as possible so I can stay around for you."

"Come on Haruta, let's give Felicity some room to breathe now."

The boy was tugged away and Felicity now found herself face to face with Marco. The blonde frowned down at her, his hands moving to rest on her upper arms. "Are you alright yoi? That bastard didn't hurt you too badly, did he?"

She felt her face turn red again and slowly shook her head while still staring up at Marco. "N-No, I'm still sore but I think I'll survive."

Marco's lips coiled to a lazy smirk in response, fingers gripping her arms lightly before releasing her completely. "Good, I was worried as hell when I saw Tyr standing over you like that."

Her heart hammered seeing him smirk like that, feeling his hands on her arms. Oh gods... Then her mind registered something he said. "Wait, who's Tyr?"

"That would be me."

Felicity froze upon hearing and finally seeing the face of the man who had attacked and attempted to take her life. She scrambled to hide herself behind Marco, feeling as a strong arm draped over her shoulders and tugged her to his side in a protective manner.

Marco stared the man down, intent on keeping the curly-haired woman at his side safe with every fiber of his being.

Tyr raised his hands in defense, taking a step toward Felicity. "Woah now, I know I may have been a bit forceful, but-" He winced as a hand reached up and yanked on his ear, tugging his head down. "OW! The hell, Shakky?!"

A woman sporting a black bob haircut tugged on the taller man even harder, bringing him to his knees in the process. "_A bit forceful_? From what Ray told me, you tried to kill this poor woman for no damn good reason," Her fingers pinched on the ear harder. "Now say you're sorry, Tyr."

The man managed to half-turn his head, glaring daggers up at the woman who merely gave a blank stare in return before twisting his ear hard.

"FUCK! I'm sorry! I'm so fucking sorry for trying to hurt you! I was just trying to get the Whitebeard crew's attention! Shakky, please fucking let me go!"

The woman turned to Felicity, smirking slightly around the cigarette in her mouth. "What do you think, hun? Should I let him go?"

Felicity remained quiet, giving a quick glance to Marco before pulling herself away from him and taking a few steps forward until she stood directly before Tyr. She still stayed silent, studying the man for a few moments before lifting her foot and smashing it against Tyr's face as hard as she could, watching with sadistic glee as he was wrenched away from Shakky and collided with the nearest wall.

"'UCK! I dink she bwoke mah 'ucking dose!" Tyr was cradling his nose as he sat up amongst the damage, blood pouring from the injured area.

The petite woman crossed her arms behind her back, slowly smiling before speaking up. "Now I think he's sorry, and if he ever tries something like that again I won't be nearly so forgiving."

The Whitebeard commanders cheered, those with drinks raising their glasses in the air while Marco grinned, watching the scene unfold before him. Who would have thought that this woman was the same woman that had only a couple months earlier had been a spoiled brat that everyone hated? Now she acted as though she had been one of them her whole life. If Pops could have met her...

Marco frowned and reached a hand up to rub at the back of his head. He knew damn well, if their old man were still alive he would have welcomed Felicity with open arms, accepted her as his daughter regardless of who her father was.

That still left Marco with the burning questions of how he should act around her, and if he could ever consider her part of their family. It worried him, the way he rushed headfirst after Felicity when he realized she was in danger. He hadn't given a second thought to his own safety, he just knew he couldn't bear to lose the woman.

He groaned, running a hand down his face in frustration. Fuck, when did things get to be so complicated?

"I have to say, you've got a mean kick there, hun. I'd say he's plenty sorry now too and if he's ever stupid enough to try anything like that again then he deserves whatever you give him."

Felicity beamed proudly up at Shakky, who in turn made her way to the bar. "What can I make for you, sweets?"

She shrugged, unsure at the moment. "I guess whatever the others are drinking is fine with me too." While Shakky busied herself with preparing Felicity's drink, she took the opportunity to look around the bar. The other commanders were for the most part downing their drinks, laughing and having a good time.

She managed to smile, making her way around the bar where she noticed several picture frames were with old photographs in the frames. Deciding to study each photo, Felicity made her way from frame to frame until she found a particular picture with an all-too familiar face within it. Brown eyes widened as her gaze stared hard at this picture and Felicity visibly paled, staggering back slightly.

Her eyes looked over two men and a shorter woman in the middle of the two. She whirled around, pointing a finger at the photo while staring at an older man sitting at the bar who had obviously been one of the individuals in the photo. "Wh-What is this? Why is this picture here and why... What the hell is going on?!"

The man looked up from his drink, a slow smirk settling across his features before he opened his mouth to speak. "Ah, so you've found an old picture of me. I was quite the looker back then I have to say."

Felicity's head shook furiously, wild curls whipping about in her face and she quickly tugged them back. "That's not what I meant!" She pointed a finger right to a white-haired, petite woman standing in the middle between the Dark King, Silvers Rayleigh and the pirate king himself, Gol D. Roger. "Why the hell is my mother in this picture with you?! This is you, isn't it?! You're Silvers Rayleigh!"

Rayleigh chuckled, memories of a woman with a very similar feisty spirit as the girl standing before him had flooding back to his memory...

* * *

_30 years earlier..._

_"Hey, you pirates! Down here! ...HEY! I'm talking to you! I know you can hear me~!"_

_Silvers Rayleigh frowned as the shouting got louder and louder and didn't seem to be stopping anytime soon. Finally with a disgruntled sigh, he moved to the side of the Oro Jackson, looking down and seeing a petite, curly-haired, young woman in a small boat, grinning up at he and the other crew members that had come to see just what the fuss was all about._

_"You're Gol D. Roger's crew, right?"_

_Rayleigh snorted. Just who was this woman and how had she found them? "Who wants to know?" He yelled back down at the woman._

_The woman's grin only widened, bright blue eyes sparkling with mischief as she pointed her thumb to her own chest. "I'm Johanna! And I'm gonna be the greatest adventurer that ever lived! Just thought I'd meet up with one of the greatest pirate crews that's on the Grand Line right now! Can I come up for a little while? I promise I won't bite too hard! That is, unless you want me to!"_

_The first mate blinked at the woman's audaciousness, shaking his head slowly until he heard the familiar guffaw of laughter. Looking over his shoulder, Rayleigh saw Roger and pointed down at the woman. "This woman-"_

_"I already told you my name's Johanna!"_

_His eye twitched. "Johanna then, says she's an adventurer and wants to come up and meet our crew. Of course I think-"_

_"Let her up!" Roger laughed again, ignoring the incredulous stare that his first mate was giving him. "After all, it doesn't hurt to make ties and friendships that could prove to be beneficial, especially if it's with the future greatest adventurer!"_

_"Captain!"_

_"I said we let her up, Rayleigh!" The pirate captain grinned as he stared down at the woman climbing up the rope she had been tossed. After a few moment, the woman jumped over the railing of the ship and landed in the middle of the crew before turning to face the captain and first mate._

_"Hi there! Nice to meet all of you! I can tell already this is going to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship!" Before anyone could get a word in edgewise, the feisty woman was in front of Roger, furiously shaking his hand with hers while Roger grinned all the while still. "Especially nice to meet you! I hear you want to be the Pirate King, and I support you and your dream!"_

_"I'd have to say I agree with you, lass! Rayleigh! Tell the crew to ready for a party, we have a special guest on board the Oro Jackson tonight!"_

_Rayleigh groaned, a palm slapping against his face. Fucking hell, now he had to deal with two happy idiots for who knew how long. One, the self-proclaimed future Pirate King, and the other, the self-proclaimed future greatest adventurer there ever was._

* * *

Rayleigh leaned back in his chair, grinning as he looked at his old friend's daughter who was still waiting for an answer to her many questions.

"You mean she never told you? I always figured your mom would have talked nonstop about her past since she was so proud of what she did," Seeing the death glare Felicity was now sporting, he casually continued. "Well, back before Johanna married your father and had kids, she was an adventurer and traveled all across the Grand Line."

He let this new bit of information sink in before speaking again. "Your mom was only an adventurer for about six years before she gave it all up, but in that time, Johanna became one of the greatest the Grand Line has ever seen, was even known as Johanna the Great Adventurer."

Felicity's eyes went wide as saucers, her mind trying to fully comprehend what she was being told. Her mother, the woman who had raised and loved Felicity for the first eight years of her life, the same woman who had loved both her daughters as well as their father unconditionally, had been an adventurer? Something she had had nothing but the utmost respect and admiration for?

The one question that kept ringing in Felicity's mind over all the other questions she had was... Why hadn't her mother told her children that she had once been an adventurer?

* * *

**Dun dun dun! So now Felicity has made a new friend (somewhat) and has learned a bit more about her mother's past, both of which will play big parts in the story before too long.  
**

**What do you think of Tyr? Yes, I know he's a complete dick at first but he won't stay that way for long since he'll continue to be part of the story for a little while. So get used to him my ducklings! *evil laughter*  
**

**What did you all honestly think of it? I'm afraid I was very disappointed with this chapter. I felt as though it could have been so much better, especially with the attack scene considering this is probably the first attack scene of any kind that I've written in several years, but the whole chapter in general was just such a pain to write out so I'm very sorry. **

**On a positive note, this is the longest chapter I've written for the story to date at almost 5,000 words! Woohoo! I can't promise that every chapter will be this long from now on, but I just couldn't find a good place to cut it off at.  
**

**As always, feel free to review~!  
**


	9. Chapter 9

******A big thank you to my lovely ducklings: Reishino Ayasaki, lucyknight13, iiILurvePancakesii, Guest: ********Pharoah999, and Shiningheart of ThunderClan ********for your reviews on the previous chapter! A big thank you to all the other ducklings who have favorited/followed this story as well!**

**Guest: Pharoah999- Thank you very much for your lovely review duckling~. I'm glad you like Tyr's character so far and there will definitely be more of him to come in the next few chapters.  
**

* * *

Chapter 9

Felicity felt as though all the air had been knocked out of her lungs the moment Rayleigh disclosed a huge part of her mother's past to her. It felt as though everything she had ever known about herself was a lie. Her mother, the always smiling, spunky, loving homemaker, had in fact once been one of the greatest adventurers the Grand Line had ever seen.

The first night after she had discovered this, Felicity had been angry and sullen, refusing to speak to anyone and just wanted to be left alone. The second night, her anger had dissipated a little and she tried to see if there was any good reason why her mother had kept such a detrimental secret from her children. And finally on the third night, she decided to forgive her mother for hiding such information.

Felicity knew that her mother must have had her reasons for keeping such a thing from she and her sister. Holding a grudge against Johanna who wasn't even alive anymore would do nothing to help in the situation so Felicity let it go, deciding instead to find out as much about her mother's travels as she possibly could.

Rayleigh had offered to coat the ship for the Whitebeard crew and said it would take him three days to finish it and once he had finished, Felicity walked right up to him...

"Please, tell me everything you can about my mom." Rayleigh looked up from his glass, turning slightly in his seat at the bar as he eyed Felicity with a smirk. "I mean it!" Hands moved to plant themselves to her hips. "Mom never told me or my sister a word about the fact she was a famous adventurer, so I want to know all I can about her life! You seemed to be a good friend of hers, so surely you must know something about her travels."

The older man chuckled at the pleading woman, shaking his head as he turned back to his drink. "No can do I'm afraid. I do know about some of Johanna's adventures, but it's not my place to tell you all about your mom's journey across the Grand Line."

"Oh," So he wasn't going to tell her a single thing. All her hopes were dashed in that one moment, Felicity feeling as though she'd never know anything about her mother's adventures. For the rest of that night, she felt disheartened but resolved to try and find a way to find out just what her mother had done in her previous life.

The next morning, the crew made their way to their ship that was now newly coated and ready for the trip to Fishman Island. One by one, everyone made their way aboard when Felicity felt a hand gently grasp her arm, stopping her movements right there. Looking behind her, she saw Rayleigh, smirking as he tugged her back a step.

"Don't get down just yet, little firecracker. I only said I wouldn't tell you what exactly your mother had accomplished, I never said I wouldn't put you in the right direction. I just know for a fact that she'd want you to discover these things on your own."

Wait, what?

All of a sudden Felicity's heart began to beat a million beats per second as she whirled around, her eyes boring into Rayleigh's while she eagerly awaited his response. "So you mean you'll tell me something about her?"

The Dark King slowly smirked as he looked over at the curly-haired woman, seeing the anticipation and excitement gleaming in those wide doe-like eyes. "I'll do you one better," Rayleigh dug into his coat pocket, pulling out a worn out piece of paper, handing it to the young woman. "When you and your sister were very young, Johanna made a trip a few years before her death and visited several of the places she had traveled to in her journeys. She came to me during that time, told me if on the off-chance you somehow found out what she had done or ever decided to follow in her footsteps to give you this."

A finger pointed to a list of what appeared to be names on the piece of paper with checkmarks by every single name on there. "This is the route your mom planned on taking, always talked about traveling to all the same places that Livingstone Clark had been to, and then she had a few places she wanted to go to that even he had never been to before."

Brown eyes widened as she gently took the paper from Rayleigh's hands. This... This was it! This was the very same routes her mother had traveled upon, the places she had visited! Maybe using this, she too could visit the same exact places!

"She said to tell you that she was sorry."

Felicity's head snapped up, her throat constricting as she tried to form words to say. "Sh-She what?"

Rayleigh could see all kinds of emotions flicker across the petite woman's face, but that one that stood out was the look of pure confusion. "Johanna said that if you ever found out the truth, that she wanted you to know that she was sorry for not telling you herself. She had her reasons for not telling her kids about her previous life and that one day you'd find out for yourself what those reasons were."

Now that made no sense to Felicity. Sure she was hurt that her mother hadn't told her about her life as an adventurer, but had she not died in that tragic accident then she would have definitely told her daughters everything.

Wouldn't she have?

Felicity forced those thoughts away as her lips curved upwards into a small smile, fingers clutching at the paper in her hands. "Thank you, for everything." After all, had she not met Silvers Rayleigh, she would still have no clue about anything pertaining to her mother. Especially considering her father refused to ever speak about his late wife to anyone.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, turning her head back slightly to find Marco looking down at her in concern, his gaze shifting from her to Rayleigh before settling on her once again. "Everything alright yoi? We need to get going soon."

Felicity willed her face to not flush upon seeing the blonde commander and managed to give a small nod. "Yeah, I'm just saying goodbye and then I'll be-"

"Yo Whitebeards! Wait up, don't leave me behind!"

Marco and Felicity blinked at one another before looking in the direction the cry had come from only to find Tyr, who was furiously waving at them with a bag slung over one shoulder.

"What..."

"Hell no!" Marco whipped his head around, eyes narrowed to slits as he pointed to Tyr while facing Rayleigh. "That bastard is _not_ coming with us yoi!"

Rayleigh shrugged in response, that smirk never leaving his face upon seeing the first division commander lose his cool calm exterior. "Well I certainly can't stop him if he wants to come with you." The Dark King's grin widened as Tyr jogged right up to them, draping an arm around Felicity's shoulders which made the young woman jump in place.

"Wh-What..." Felicity's eyes filled with worry as she looked from Marco to Rayleigh, all the while nudging an elbow into Tyr's stomach in an effort to make him release her.

"So I take it we're leaving soon right? Looks like I made it just in time!" Tyr ignored the nudging and the arm around Felicity tightened. Tyr's lips coiled into a dark smirk as he and Marco's eyes met, each staring the other down before he addressed the petite woman in his grasp. "So Felicity, I know we got off on the wrong foot a few days ago but I figured you could show me around the ship, tell me the ins and outs, that sort of thing."

And with that, the former Roger pirate tugged Felicity away from the two men without awaiting her response, leaving Marco and Rayleigh behind. Now Silvers Rayleigh had known the Phoenix for a few decades and in that time, he had never seen the man lose his temper or even get remotely angry unless in the heat of battle, but this...

The man was absolutely seething, glaring daggers into Tyr's back, teeth ground together as his breathing got heavier and heavier, all while watching the younger man lead the raven-haired woman toward the ship. Ah, so it was like that...

Rayleigh had to wonder if Marco was even aware of the affect the girl had on him? Surely he wasn't the first to notice any of this... The former first mate watched as Marco stomped toward the ship and headed straight for Tyr and Felicity, Marco yanking Felicity's arm away from the other male and pulling her on board the ship himself, leaving Tyr behind cursing and yelling at the commander.

Rayleigh chuckled, shaking his head at the sight as he watched the remainder of the Whitebeards get on board the ship and proceed to leave Sabaody. Well well, this was an interesting development for sure.

He lifted his head, gaze focusing ont he clear skies above him. "You did tell me once that your daughters were both destined to lead great lives, didn't you Johanna?" He waited for a moment, as though expecting his old friend to respond before chuckling and turning to walk off with a shake of his head.

* * *

Monkey D. Garp stomped through the halls of a Marine base, fingers clutching a paper in a death grip as he searched high and low for an old friend. When one of his men had told him that the Whitebeard crew had surfaced once again, he hadn't thought much about it. It wasn't until names were listed off of known inhabitants of the ship that Garp snatched the papers out of the officer's hands, told him not to breathe a word of the Whitebeards to anyone and with that he had set off.

But just who was he searching for? Vice-Admiral Barker, a man he had known for many years, and someone who would have a special interest in a specific name on board the ship.

"Uh, sir? Sir, you can't go in there! The Vice-Admiral is-"

"Out of my way!" Garp ignored the young rookie trying to stop him and swiftly kicked down the door that led to Barker's office. And there the bearded bastard was, asleep at his desk.

Well, Garp had no time to wait for the other man to wake up so... "Wake the hell up Barker!" Garp shoved the chair out from under Barker and the older Vice-Admiral in turn awoke instantly, falling flat on his back. The older man was enraged, running a hand through his messy white hair as he stood himself to his feet and swung an arm out which collided with Garp's face.

"Garp! You son of a bitch! Why the hell did you wake me up for no reason?!" Punches began to be thrown between the two, and for awhile Garp completely forgot why he came to find the other Vice-Admiral. Finally, when Barker broke his chair over the other's head, Garp's memory served to remind him of the important news.

"Wait a minute! Wait just a damn minute here!" He thrust his hand forward, offering the paper with the news of the Whitebeards and their crew members. "I've got something here I know you're going to be very interested in."

Barker grunted but nontheless stopped his brutal assault, brushing his shoulders off before snatching the documents out of the other Vice-Admirals hand. "This had better be good, I swear Garp, one of these days I'm going to..." He paused, eyes scanning over the words before stopping at seeing a name he knew all-too-well.

His head snapped up, eyes alight with anger. "Is this information accurate? Damn it all, you know how important it is that I know if this is true!"

"It's all true, at least according to my sources it is."

Barker frowned, quickly tearing the papers into small pieces before throwing the pieces into a nearby garbage can to ensure no one could ever read the words again. "Who else knows of this?" He asked sharply.

"As far as I can tell, just you and me. Sakazuki knows about it too, but from what it looks like he's not planning on doing anything about it."

Barker snorted, lip curling in disgust just hearing the Fleet Admiral's name. "That shitty bastard knows too, eh?" He shook his head. "Doesn't matter, I'm not about to let him or anyone else stop me from doing what I need to."

He wasn't about to let that piece of shit Sakazuki stand in his way. Never again. He'd set sail as soon as possible and find those damn pirates one way or another.

* * *

Felicity's eyes were wide with wonder and she smiled in delight at how beautiful the sea truly was underwater. Fish of all varieties swam by at a fast pace and every time she caught a glimpse of a new creature, her fingers would grip the wood of the boat's railing and she leaned forward just the tiniest bit as though to get a closer look if possible.

She had had no earthly idea that beneath the surface of the ocean it could be so...

"Amazing..."

She heard a low chuckle from behind and Marco suddenly appeared by her side, leaning his arms against the railing as he too allowed himself to relax and watch the sea life. "You look like you're enjoying yourself yoi."

"Mhm, it's so gorgeous down here..." Her lips parted slightly as she released a wistful sigh.

"Well trust me when I say it won't stay like this for long, at least not for where we're headed to. It's going to be a long and dangerous trip to Fishman Island yoi. Just be prepared and be as careful as possible." His head cocked to the side where he saw brown eyes were already staring up at him. Lips curved upwards to a smirk and Marco shifted, turning in place until he was face to face with Felicity.

For a few moments, no words were said between the pair. They silently stared at one another, each unsure of what to say to the other. Finally, when Felicity reached a hand up to tuck a strand of curls behind an ear, Marco acted, gently taking her wrist in his hand.

"Felicity," Now what did he say? What_ could_ he say to the woman standing before him? All coherent thoughts fled and he stood there frozen, her wrist still in his hand as she stared up at him with curious eyes.

"Marco?" Her head tilted slightly as her brow creased in slight worry for the blonde. "Is everything alright?" She subconsciously moved a step forward, closer to Marco.

Just hearing his name snapped him back to his senses, shaking his head as he opened his mouth to speak again. "I need to tell you something yoi," He had been interrupted the time before when he tried to confess about the things that had happened at the bar. About her kissing him, his accidentally knocking her out...

He felt a guilt like no other by not telling Felicity and he knew it was the time to do so. "When we were at the bar a couple weeks back, some things-"

"There you are, Felicity! I thought I'd find you out here!"

Marco hissed a curse under his breath and whipped his head around to narrow his eyes at Tyr. The cocky son of a bitch was walking over to the pair, a smug grin on his face as he moved right toward Felicity.

Oh how Marco despised the man. He had been a stupid little brat on Roger's crew all those years ago, and he hadn't changed much whatsoever. Tyr was an arrogant man, someone who thought that he could do as he damn well pleased with no consequences, and just seeing him made Marco want to throw him overboard and not look back. Well, those were the less violent of his thoughts concerning the younger pirate.

"Actually, Felicity and I were trying to discuss-"

"Hey come on! I want to show you something I saw on the other side of the ship!" Tyr completely ignored Marco, his fingers moving to Felicity's wrist and began to tug her away, even with the younger woman trying to pull back from Tyr's grip.

"But Marco was talking-"

"Ah don't worry about him, he'll be around to talk later I'm sure." Tyr had guided Felicity away from Marco, she craning her head to look back at Marco before being dragged completely out of sight, away from the first division commander.

His hands clenched into fists as he watched the pair, half a mind to go after them and shove Tyr through the coating and let him fend for himself out in the sea. But then he realized what he was thinking and stopped right in his tracks.

Why the hell was he so concerned if Tyr tried to put the moves on Felicity? For that matter, why did he feel the urge to murder anyone that looked at the petite woman in any way that was anything but innocent? He groaned, running a hand through his hair as he tried to get his emotions in check.

He was a fully grown man, damn it! There was no rational reason for him to react toward the way Tyr treated Felicity. And who was he to try and stop the other man if he wanted to pursue her? Well, other than the fact that Tyr had tried to do harm to Felicity and Marco himself knew that she deserved better than some worthless piece of shit like Tyr, no matter who her father was or what she might have done or said previously.

And there those thoughts were again. Just thinking about him touching Felicity in any way... Marco snorted, turning around and gripping the railing on the ship as tightly as his fingers could.

He tried to rationalize these intense feelings as best as he could. The intense desire to protect her, to keep her out of harm's way and more specifically, away from Tyr.

Protection. He only wanted to protect a woman who he was slowly coming to see as a friend. That had to be it, after all he himself held no attraction for Felicity.

"I just saw the oddest thing. Want to take a guess as to what it could possibly be?"

Marco was so lost in his own thoughts that he hadn't even realized that Izo was standing right beside him. Blinking, the blonde shifted his gaze and frowned at the cross-dresser. "I suppose you're going to tell me whether I ask or not yoi?"

The other hummed in a nonchalant manner, shrugging his shoulders slightly. "Oh it's nothing too big... Just," Izo paused, waiting until Marco's attention was diverted back to the ocean waters that surrounded their ship before speaking again. "I just saw Tyr and Felicity, and Tyr seemed pretty damn determined to get a kiss out of her. I mean, duckling was fighting him off but I wager it's only a matter of time before she gives in."

Something in Marco's mind snapped. "He what?!" He barely registered the sound of wood cracking before whirling around, eyes blazing with pure unadulterated rage. He would murder the son of a bitch, he would see the floors of the ship painted with his blood, he would... Why was Izo looking at him as though he had just won something?

Izo had a blank look upon his face, that is until the moment Marco lost it. He slowly smirked upon seeing the commander whirl around, ready to go on the attack just hearing what Izo had said. "You still going to deny there's nothing between you and the duckling? And all of that for a lie, I wonder what you would do if Tyr actually_ had_ tried something."

Wait a minute... "So you made all of that up? Just to try and get a rise out of me?! That's so incredibly fucked up yoi! And for the record, I don't admit to anything, Felicity is just a friend. That's it yoi!"

Izo sighed and pointed down toward Marco's hands. "If that's truly the case, then why did you break part of the side of our ship with your bare hands when I told you my little white lie just now?"

Say what?

Marco blinked before looking down at his own hands, noting that indeed there was a large chunk of the railing from the side of the ship in his grasp.

"Th-That doesn't mean-"

"Sure~ it doesn't," Izo replied in a sing-song voice while he sported a shit-eating grin. Oh he was downright giddy about the whole situation, now he knew for a fact that Marco could keep denying all he wanted to that he didn't feel anything for the raven-haired woman on board their ship, but Izo knew very differently.

If this kept up, the obvious jealousy and possessiveness that Marco was starting to feel for Felicity, then it was only a matter of time before one or both of them cracked and gave in to their unspoken feelings and desires.

* * *

**Hmm so now we're introduced to a new face who's determined to find the Whitebeards, and Tyr has decided to tag along with the Whitebeard crew on their trip to Fishman Island. And what's this? Is our favorite Phoenix possibly...jealous? No, of course not... *snickers* **

**On another note: I always get so excited every time I see the number of reviews for this story go up. I honestly never expected to get this many reviews or have so many people really enjoy what I write. So I've decided to make a challenge for my faithful followers. *evil grin* **

**I would like to see this story get to at least 50 reviews at some point in the future. If and when that happens, I will give the 50th reviewer the opportunity of having me include something in a future chapter that you suggest and this can be almost anything you want, within reason of course. **

**No, this is not just a way to get more reviews. Sure reviews are nice, but the fact I have a few of you all who love the story and follow it faithfully makes me want to reward those of you who are faithful reviewers and thank you all for sticking to this story even when I myself thought of giving up several times and have been extremely critical of my own writing. **

**Thank you my ducklings~!  
**


	10. Chapter 10

******A big thank you to my lovely ducklings: lucyknight13, and Guest: Pharoah999 ********for your reviews on the previous chapter! A big thank you to all the other ducklings who have favorited/followed this story as well!**

******Pharoah999: Thank you for the lovely review~. Felicity will definitely end up with Marco at some point and not Tyr, though I am glad you're enjoying Tyr and his character. I'm afraid there won't be much of him in this chapter but possibly more of him next chapter. There will be more of jealous Marco to come courtesy of Tyr and Tyr's shenanigans, and as for updates I usually update every Thursday. Thank you my duckling and I'm so glad you're liking the story still. :D**

******Woo! We're finally at 10 chapters and I'd like to take the chance to say thank you to every single one of you who have reviewed, favorited or followed this story! I know it may not seem like much it being only 10 chapters so far, but for me it means the world because I'm so critical of my work and I never thought I'd push forward and get to this point. Thank you all~! **

* * *

Chapter 10

"Welcome to Fishman Island once again, Whitebeard pirates. We thank you for arriving as swiftly as you have." The three princes of the island were waiting for the crew on land once they left the ship, and Felicity peered around Marco to get a better look at them for herself.

"Technically I'm not a Whitebeard, I just hopped along for the ride!" Tyr grinned, ignoring the glares and hisses the other crew members were currently giving him.

Felicity rolled her eyes at the former Roger pirate who was acting the fool, focusing her attention instead on the royal princes. All in all, they appeared to be friendly enough, though she couldn't say for certain until she got to know them better. But if Marco and the other crew members didn't seem to have a problem with them, then it _should_ be safe for her to trust them as well.

"Wow," Felicity got a better look at the citizens of the island and couldn't believe her eyes at all of the Fishmen and Merfolk that roamed the streets all around them. All of them, they were so many different varieties and colors. Felicity couldn't help but be awestruck considering she had seen only a very few Fishmen in her life and always from a far distance, she had also never seen a mermaid, and she wanted to see as much of Fishman Island as possible.

After all, the island was one of the stops her mother had made during her travels. Felicity decided that she had to see as much of the island as she possibly could before it was time for the crew to depart.

"Follow us, this way."

Felicity barely registered that they were moving until she felt someone prod at her back gently, urging her to move ahead with the rest of the crew. Brown eyes blinked and she quickly jogged ahead of the others until she was right at Marco's side.

"Hey," She whispered up to him, a hand reaching out and gently tugging at the sleeve of his jacket. "Where are we going now?"

Upon hearing the whispered question, Marco turned his attention down at the petite woman tugging at him before leaning his head slightly down to murmur. "We're heading for the palace yoi. Make sure you keep close to me, got it?" He waited until she tilted her head to one side before continuing. "I don't want you to get lost here because there's been some trouble in Fishman District here lately yoi."

Taking her hand in his, Marco guided Felicity onto one of the large sharks that the crew was to ride upon in order to get to the palace.

"Oh... Got it." She nodded her head once, silently deciding she'd have to find a way to get out on her own to see the rest of the island for herself.

She let her gaze wander as the shark began to move, taking in all the sights that surrounded them. It was all so strange and surreal to her, to finally be here in a place that she had only heard of from her mother. And yet her mother had gotten to experience it all for herself so long ago... Yet another thing her mother had never told her about.

She couldn't help but wonder if there was something she had missed, some clue that her mother had inadvertently left behind for her children to let them know just what all she had done in her life.

So lost in her thoughts, she never even realized that she had reached for Marco's arm, linking her own through it.

* * *

_"Listen my child, to this story of dreams. And know that the beginning is not quite what it seems."_

_A four-year-old Felicity's face scrunched up into a frown as she looked over at her mother who was sitting across the room before turning her little head up at her father whose lap she sat in. "Daddy, what's Mama talking 'bout?"_

_Sakazuki chuckled as his daughter winced the moment he tried to run a brush through her messy curls, a nightly ritual father and daughter shared together. "Well, I'm not exactly sure, but it could have something to do with the book she's currently reading." Felicity tried to bat the brush away from her hair but Sakazuki wouldn't have it, continuing to try and brush any tangles out of Felicity's curls._

_Johanna laughed lightly, bright blue eyes sparkling while watching her husband and daughter. With a shake of her head, she lay her book flat against her rounded belly. "It's from a poem in this book Lissy, it comes from a place called Fishman Island." She reached a hand up to her abdomen, a soft smile making its way across her features as she felt her unborn child nudge at her hand gently. "The baby likes when I read, I think he or she especially likes when I read some of the stories that have come from Fishman Island. At least, that's when the baby seems to be most active." _

_Felicity perked up at the mention of her little brother or sister and scrambled to climb off her father's lap, toddling across the room where she tugged at her mother's dress. "Mama! Tell me a story about Fishy Island too!" _

_Johanna smiled down at her daughter, watching with mirth as her husband was behind Felicity in an instant to pick her up. Felicity whipped her head around to see who the culprit was that had a grasp on her, only to giggle at seeing it was only her father, throwing her arms around his neck in a quick hug before he deposited her into her mother's lap. _

_"Tell me a story!" Felicity bounced up and down in Johanna's lap before feeling a hand on top of her head, twisting around to find her father frowning slightly._

_"Lissy, don't be so rough with Mama. When you bounce on her it means you're bouncing on your brother or sister too. You have to be the one to look after them both, to protect them when I leave for work."_

_Brown eyes widened as she realized her mistake and she slowly nodded her head in a reverent manner. "I'm sorry Daddy..." She turned back to her mother again, placing both palms against Johanna's distended stomach. "I'm sorry Mama and baby..."_

_"That's my girl. You're going to be the best big sister ever, I can tell already," Sakazuki grinned as he praised his little girl, leaning down to kiss the top of his daughter's head before turning to his wife, giving her a gentle kiss before pulling back. "I hate to leave, but duty calls." _

_The petite woman smiled softly. "We hate for you to go too, but we understand. Go before you get into any trouble." _

_She waited until her husband had left the home before turning to her daughter in her lap, grinning down at her. "You want to hear a story about Fishman Island, eh?" Felicity's head nodded up and down furiously which made Johanna laugh and lightly ruffle her hair. "Let's see... There are so many stories and poems that are so unappreciated that come from the island. Have I ever told you about the great adventurer that came from that island? He's also a famous pirate captain that goes by the name of Fisher Tiger, the captain of the Sun Pirates."_

_The girl gasped at the mention of adventures and pirates. "Ohh, tell me Mama!" Felicity's eyes widened and she listened with rapt attention as her mother began to speak of the tales of the famous adventuring fishman. _

* * *

"_Listen my child, to this story of dreams. And know that the beginning is not quite what it seems._"

Marco blinked as he felt Felicity's arm slip through his, leaning against Marco as she murmured lowly to herself.

His brow furrowed as Marco tried not to focus on the fact that Felicity's arm was holding onto his own and instead decided to take in Felicity's words, slowly going over them in his mind. That poem... It sounded familiar, though he couldn't quite place where he had heard it before. "What is that you're saying yoi?"

She froze, head slowly turning upwards as she gave a sheepish smile and shook her head. "It's nothing, just remembering something that's all." It was then that Felicity realized she had been clinging to Marco as well as murmuring things to herself. Oh just great, now he probably thought she was a complete and utter fool.

Her entire face flushed and she quickly released his arm, wrapping both her arms around herself. "S-Sorry about that! I didn't realize..." The sentence trailed off as Felicity looked away, embarassed that she had forgotten herself and had latched onto him like that.

Marco shook his head, shrugging his shoulders slightly in a nonchalant manner. "Ah don't worry about it yoi, I just-"

"We've arrived," Fukaboshi's voice broke the conversation between Marco and Felicity and everyone began their ascent onto the ground.

Felicity's eyes slowly widened from sheer shock as she looked at the outside of the palace. Her mouth slowly took on an o shape as everyone was slowly ushered into the spacious palace.

"Wow, this is... Just wow."

Marco couldn't help but smile at the awestruck look she wore, so childlike the way she was amazed at everything she saw. "Just prepare yourself, it's even more lavish the further along we get yoi." He chuckled as Felicity faced him, flashing him a brilliant smile before turning her attention back to the ceiling of the building.

"King Neptune is coming, just stay behind the others for now yoi." Felicity blinked, seeing that Marco was right and the king of Ryugu Kingdom was indeed moving right toward them.

"Gotcha, I'll just head back then," Without another word, Felicity silently moved to the back of the group, keeping quiet and still as possible behind Blenheim and Rakuyo. Her curiosity got the better of her though, and she began peering around the two commanders just to get a good look at the ruler. Her first thoughts were that he was massive, almost imposing but he seemed to be friendly...

"Welcome, Whitebeard crew! We can never thank you enough for coming to our aid and give our condolences to you for the loss of your captain. He truly was a great man. To thank you for coming, we've planned a banquet for this evening, but beforehand I'd like to discuss the details of what is happening on our island."

"Of course yoi, and we thank you for being so hospitable to our crew," Marco bowed his head slightly as King Neptune made his way toward the crew, the other commanders following suit and bowing. The ruler of Ryugu Kingdom was followed by an elderly, white-haired, blue tang mermaid who appeared to have a very sour look on her face.

"I'm sure you all remember my mother, Madam Rhea?" Neptune swept an arm out to the mermaid who gave a curt nod to the pirates, but it appeared she was looking through the commanders, as if searching for someone in particular. When her eyes settled on that one person, she slowly gave a snarky smirk, eyes zoning in.

"My my, looks like you've finally decided to come. But then again, I knew you would come to this island before you were even born."

Marco as well as the other commanders looked at one another in confusion, but before any of them could ask what she meant, Madam Rhea had already moved right past all the men of the Whitebeard crew and made a beeline for one individual at the very back.

Brown eyes blinked owlishly and Felicity held both her hands up in defense as the mermaid halted right in front of her. "W-Wait a minute, I have no clue what you're talking-" The elderly blue tang mermaid ignored Felicity's protests, grasping her chin with her bony fingers and turned her head from side to side as though inspecting her.

"Hmm, don't look much like Johanna in the face but you're definitely her daughter all the same. Your height and those curls are a dead giveaway." Madam Rhea tutted and gave a quick nod of approval. "You're just like I foresaw you'd be."

Felicity's heart stopped for a moment and she tried to breathe at this piece of information. So it was true... Her mother had indeed come to the island and this mermaid had met her, but something that the mermaid had mentioned had her curious.

"_Foresaw_? You saw _me_?"

Madam Rhea clicked her tongue. "Yes child, are you daft? I'm a fortune teller, meaning that I can see visions of the future. It's a rare gift that very few on this island are blessed with. Surely your mother made sure you were somewhat educated about these kinds of things before her untimely death?"

Felicity froze in place but tried not to think too much of the fortune teller's words, forcing a smile to her face and clenching her hands into fists at her sides. "I see you heard about that. Did you know my mother well when she visited your island?"

Marco's lips coiled to a frown, instantly seeing that Felicity was trying to keep her emotions in check. In that moment he felt something, an urge to go to Felicity's side and ensure that she was in fact alright.

His feet moved of their own accord, hands gently grasping her shoulders, trying to help the curly-haired woman in any way he could. He felt Felicity jump in place and crane her head back to see who it was, releasing a deep breath and giving a relieved smile when she saw it was him. She reached a hand up to gently squeeze at the larger hand on her shoulder and the gesture, small as it was made his heart skip a beat.

Clearing his throat, Marco turned his attention toward the mermaid. "Madam Rhea I really don't think this is a good idea yoi. After all, Felicity-"

"Heard about it?" She snorted, ignoring Marco completely. "Child, I foresaw Johanna's death years before it happened."

In that single moment, Felicity felt as though she had been punched right in the gut. What... What was she implying?

The room suddenly became deathly silent, the only sound coming from Felicity, a soft whimper. "Wh-What?"

Instinctively Marco's hands tightened on Felicity's shoulders, just as she lost all feeling in her legs, her back colliding against Marco's form.

"Felicity!" Marco swept Felicity into his arms as she fell back, looking her now pale face over to ensure she was alright but just as he opened his mouth to ask that very question...

Felicity grew enraged and suddenly all her strength came back to her at once. "You bitch!" Felicity squirmed and fought against the blonde's grasp on her until she was able to jump out of Marco's arms, stomping right up to the mermaid who had admitted that she had foreseen her mother's death. "You actually saw my mother die in a vision and you did nothing to stop it?! You could have warned her about it and maybe she'd still be here!"

"Felicity, no!" Marco hissed, grabbing onto her wrist in an attempt to tug her away from the elderly mermaid, but she wouldn't budge and even tried to free her wrist from the commander's grip.

Her eyes were blazing with raw fury and she didn't give a single damn that the guards in the palace were now surrounding her as fast as they could. She didn't care that Marco was trying to stop her from causing any kind of ruckus inside the palace. All she cared about was the fact that her mother could have lived, could have possibly been there for her and her sister as they grew up, and she had never been given the chance!

Oh how she wanted nothing more than to punch this mermaid right in her smirking face. She was livid!

Rhea merely cocked an eyebrow up, holding an arm up to keep the guards at bay. "Is that truly what you think?" She gave a bitter laugh. "Oh you naive stupid child, allow me to let you in on a little secret."

She leaned her face in closer to Felicity's before biting out the next statement. "I _did_ warn Johanna about her eventual death when she first visited our island many years ago. I did it as a courtesy as she was one of the few humans who actually respected us and treated Fishmen and Merfolk like we were all equals. I told her every single detail about when and how her death would happen, but she _chose_ not to heed my warning."

* * *

**So here's part one to the adventures on Fishman Island! Oh my, I wonder how our duckling will react to the knowledge that her mom knew she was going to die beforehand? And we even got to see a little bit more of Felicity's childhood. Just to warn you all there will be many more flashbacks throughout the story to come so hope you enjoy them~! **

**Urgh this chapter just did not want to be written out. :( I rewrote this thing more times than I can count and I'm still not entirely satisfied, especially with the beginning portion, actually the only part I'm really happy with is the flashback, so I may come back at a later date and edit this chapter some. For now, this is what I give to you all and I'm very sorry for it. **

**Thank you my ducklings~!  
**


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